Salivary glands: a clinical-histopathological study

Abstract

Introduction and objective: The diseases that affect the salivary glands cover a wide range of conditions and etiologies, including infectious, inflammatory, immunological or neoplastic pathologies. The objective of this study was to identify the most frequent salivary gland diseases diagnosed in the School of Dentistry of Araraquara of the São Paulo State University (FOAr-UNESP). Materials and methods: This retrospective descriptive study included all cases of salivary gland diseases diagnosed between 2009 and 2013. In total, 2,236 clinical records of the Oral Medicine Service and 1,217 histopathological reports of the Histopathological Diagnosis Service were evaluated. Results: We identified 254 patients diagnosed with salivary gland disease, predominantly women (1.5 F / M). The most frequent diagnoses were mucocele (38.6%), sialolithiasis (6.7%), sialadenitis (5.1%), ranula (4.3%), Sjögren’s syndrome (2.8%), pleomorphic adenoma (1.2%) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (1.2%). The most frequent histopathological diagnosis was the phenomenon of extravasation of mucus (85.2%). A common clinical finding was xerostomia (39%), mainly in patients treated with antihypertensive (42.4%), psychiatric (35.3%), anti-inflammatory (20.2%) and drugs for the treatment of gastric ulcers (13.1%). Conclusions: Our findings show the importance of a careful diagnosis, not only for neoplastic lesions, but also for pathologies of autoimmune, inflammatory and traumatic origin, which make up a greater number of cases. In addition, oral health professionals should be aware of the high frequency of xerostomia and its association with the use of certain medications, due to its negative impact on the quality of life of those suffering from this condition.