Radionuclide salivary imaging usefulness in a private otolaryngology practice.

Radionuclide salivary gland scans were performed on 44 patients using sodium pertechnetate Tc 99m. The accuracy of the scans and their usefulness in the clinical treatment of the patients were reviewed. The scan provided helpful information in 31 of 38 (82%) cases in which adequate follow-up data were available, although it proved diagnostic in only six patients. It was particularly useful in the evaluation of primary salivary gland neoplasms, acute and chronic sialadenitis, and sialolithiasis, as well as in the differential diagnosis of xerostomia. The value of this procedure in the elucidation of a variety of morphologic and functional diseases of these glands warrants its greater application in private otolaryngologic practices.