A case of sialodochitis fibrinosa with MR findings leading to selection of an appropriate treatment

Abstract

Sialodochitis fibrinosa is a rare disease characterized by paroxysmal swelling of the salivary glands and discharge of fibrous masses containing eosinophils from the salivary gland orifice. Diagnosis was traditionally based on irregular dilation of the main salivary duct by sialography, but now includes the imaging findings of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the present patient, short TI inversion recovery (STIR) MRI sequence was able to identify Stensen's duct dilation and additionally depict cystic dilation due to stenosis of the orifice and multiple cystic dilations within the parotid gland body. Treatment was performed on each of the lesion sites identified by MRI. The patient was successfully treated with compressive gland massage for lesions within the body of the parotid, and bougienage was performed for stenosis of Stensen's duct orifice, with duct flushing for dilation of Stensen's duct. These findings suggest that MRI could replace sialography and has the advantages of being noninvasive, having a wide observation area, and enabling observation within the glandular body. Here, we report the case of a patient in whom accurate identification of the site of the lesion enabled selection of appropriate treatment for each site.

Keywords

• Sialodochitis fibrinosa
• STIR
• Kussmaul disease