[What can be expected of the microscopic study of a biopsy of the accessory salivary glands? An argument for a new approach: "D.D." (diagnosis, destruction)].

Histological study is made on labial salivary gland biopsies in three usual circumstances: presence of a sicca syndrome; suspicion of a Gougerot-Sjogren's disease or of another systemic disease (sarcoïdosis; amyloïdosis). Its aim is: to appreciate the accuracy of the biopsy; to analyse elementary lesions and to suggest an etiologic diagnosis. The authors put emphasis on the interest: 1) to use new techniques of immunocytochemistry or molecular biology to appreciate the degree of evolutivity of lesions; 2) to quantify lymphoïd infiltrates, fibrosis and epithelial alterations; 3) to formulate results with regard not only to the etiological Diagnosis but also to the glandular Destruction by means of a double descriptive score: the "D.D." score.