A COMPARISON OF CLINICAL, PATHOLOGICAL AND RADIOLOGICAL FINDINGS WITHMAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING STUDIES OF LYMPHOMAS IN PATIENTS WITH SJOGRENS-SYNDROME

In the past few years a variety of papers on magnetic resonance imagin g (MRI) of the salivary glands have been published, mainly focusing on the evaluation of salivary gland tumors. More recently, non-tumorous lesions have also been examined with this imaging technique. In Sjogre n's syndrome (SS) a characteristic inhomogeneous pattern with a ''hone ycomb-like'' appearance of the parotid gland tissue has been shown in the T2-weighted sequence. This study shows MRI findings in four cases of intraglandular lymphoma occurring in patients with SS. Four patient s with suspected lymphomas were examined with MRI, following which all lesions were either biopsied or removed. This enabled us to correlate clinical, radiological and pathological findings. Results indicate th at MRI is a useful imaging tool in the detection of intraglandular lym phatic infiltrates, although it is not possible to distinguish morphol ogically between a localized lymphatic infiltrate and an early stage m alignant lymphoma. Nevertheless, MRI is considered to be a valuable no n-invasive method for deciding whether or not to perform a biopsy. Due to the excellent soft tissue differentiation obtained, it is also hel pful for the surgeon to plan and perform a successful biopsy with mini mal risk to the facial nerve.