Chapter 54 Disorders of the Salivary Glands

The parotid, submandibular and sublingual glands are the three paired major salivary glands; the minor salivary glands are multiple and situated mainly in the lips, buccal mucosa, tongue and palate, but they can be present anywhere along the aerodigestive tract. The parotid is ectodermal in origin, while the submandibular and sublingual glands are endodermal. The parotid represents the largest of the salivary glands and is situated in front of the external. The parotid duct passes over the masseter muscle and enters the buccal mucosa through the buccinator muscle at the level of the upper second molar tooth. The lymphatic system develops within the parotid glandular tissue after encapsulation of the submandibular and sublingual glands. The glossopharyngeal nerve carries preganglionic parasympathetic fibres from the inferior salivatory nucleus. The gland is surrounded by a well-defined capsule derived from the deep cervical fascia, which splits to enclose it.

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Weblinks

Journal articles

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221329451730412X/ (paid)

Development of evidence-based tiered classification consisting of six diagnostic categories for salivary gland fine-needle aspiration cytology.

https://www.oto.theclinics.com/article/S0030-6665(21)00011-6/fulltext/ (paid)

Diagnostic endoscopy, dilation of stenosis and endoscopic sialolithotomies of small, mobile stones are techniques well suited to sialendoscopy in the clinic.

https://academic.oup.com/ajcp/article/136/1/45/1766068/ (free)

The clinical usefulness of fine-needle aspiration cytology for the diagnosis of parotid gland lesions is discussed in this article.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35312980/ (paid)

The salivary gland section in the fifth edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Head and Neck Tumours features a description and inclusion of several new entities that have been described in this article.

https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/457939/ (paid)

This review article looks at adenoid cystic carcinoma, which has a propensity for perineural invasion with invasion of the skull base.

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