Analysis of lesions and morphometric study in chronic sialadenitis of the human submandibular gland.

Abstract

Submandibular gland specimens from thirty-sevell patients evaluated for the chronic sialadenitis were examined histologically and histometrically. Histopathologically, the chronic sialadenis was classified into 2 types, i. e., the focal sialadenitis and the diffuse sialadenitis. The diffuse sialadenitis was also subclassed into cellular type and fibrous type. The focal sialadenitis occupied 10.8% in 37 cases of the chronic sialadenitis; cellular type of the diffuse sialadenitis occupied 37.8% and fibrous type of it occupied 51.4% of the chronic sialadenitis Many fibrous types of the diffuse sialadenitis were caused by the sialolith and the radiation for a therapy of the oral cancer. The histometric study demonstrated that a change of pyroninophilic plasma cell proportions with increasing the number of infiltrating mononuclear cells in the area of 240×240μ²/3μ showed a little difference between the cellular type and fibrous type of diffuse sialadenitis.

Moreover, the histometric change of the distribution of the acini with increasing the number of infiltrating mononuclear cells in 240×240μ²/3μ suggested that the degeneration and/or destruction of acinar cells occurred in the early stage of lesions of the chronic sialadenitis. Plasma cells frequently accumulated among the acini and the proportion of pyroninophilic plasma cells in the areas containing a small number of infiitrating mononuclear cells was reiatively a high percentage in the diffuse sialadenitis. These suggest that plasma cells may have some significant roles in the development of lesions of the chronic sialadenitis