[Necrotizing sialometaplasia (salivary gland infarct) of the submandibular gland. A case report].

Necrotizing sialometaplasia, being a rare, nonspecific reaction to ischaemic injury in salivary gland tissues of the head, is discussed in connection with a case of our own. In contrast to former reports concerning such lesions above all in minor salivary glands the following report concentrates on a case of necrotizing sialometaplasia in the submaxillary salivary gland of a 57-year old woman who noticed after exstirpation of a pleomorphic adenoma in the submaxillary gland a swelling that presented histologically as necrotizing sialometaplasia. Emphasis is placed on a detailed morphological knowledge of this innocuous, self-repairing process, since the extensive squamous cell metaplasia of minor excretory ducts as the essential finding could be easily misdiagnosed as a squamous cell carcinoma and, therefore deserves special consideration in differential diagnosis of salivary gland tumours.