Correlations between histopathologic and scintigraphic parameters of salivary glands in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome

The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of quantifying salivary gland scintigraphy in correlation to the labial biopsy findings of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). Thirty patients suspected of having SS referred to our clinic for salivary gland scintigraphy were included to this study. All patients underwent salivary gland biopsy as well. The severity of histopathologic changes was graded according to the Chisholm and Mason scoring system. Dynamic scintigraphy was performed and region of interests (ROI) were drawn. Time activity curves for salivary glands were generated. Count rates of maximum, minimum activity after lemon juice stimuli, and last minute activities of parotid and submandibular glands were obtained. On the basis of this ROI counts, excretion fraction (EF%) was calculated for all salivary glands. The mean EF% for normal parotid gland and pathologic parotid gland was 54.5 ± 13.9 and 45.8 ± 18.42, respectively, while it was 46.7 ± 11.7 for the normal submandibular gland and 29.3 ± 18.8 for the pathologic submandibular gland. With progression in histopathologic grades from 0 to 4, the EF decreased in all salivary glands. Decreased EF in the salivary glands is correlated with the SS, and salivary gland scintigraphy is a sensitive and valid method for evaluation of the function of the salivary glands.