[Magnetic resonance tomography of the parotid gland: plain diagnosis and Gd-DTPA].

Pathological lesions of the parotid gland were examined comparatively with different examination sequences both plain and with the contrast medium Gd-DTPA. There were 36 benign lesions (parotitis, Sjögren's syndrome, adenoma, etc.) and 24 malignant tumours (squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma etc.) Examinations were carried out at 1.0 T with long and short spin echo sequences in transverse and frontal layer orientation before and after application of Gd-DTPA as contrast medium. In the patients suffering from parotitis the best results were obtained with plain T1 and T2 sequences; the contrast medium Gd-DTPA remained without superior diagnostic relevance. However, in Sjögren's syndrome (myoepithelial sialadenitis) administration of the contrast medium always yielded a characteristic honeycomblike pattern. In benign and malignant space-occupying growths MRI supplied additional diagnostic information with Gd-DTPA in respect of defining the tumour borderlines and paths of infiltration. MRI is now a significant diagnostic tool in inflammatory and tumorous lesions of the parotid gland.