Juvenile recurrent parotitis: clinicoradiologic follow-up study and the beneficial effect of sialography.

In twenty-two children juvenile recurrent parotitis (JRP) was diagnosed on the basis of age at onset, duration of parotid swelling episodes, frequency of attacks, lack of pus formation, and typical sialograms. Age at onset and severity of the disease varied widely. There was a high incidence of upper respiratory tract infection, and in some cases a familial history of JRP was noted. The sialograms revealed acinar and ductal atrophy and severe sialectasis. A dominant feature was impaired glandular function. The follow-up period was notable for a striking decrease in the number of incidents of glandular swelling regardless of the patient's age at the time of his or her first visit to our clinic. Since drug treatment was administered prior to our first examination and no medicaments were prescribed by us, the improvement in the clinical status of the patients is attributed to the sialographic procedures.