SIALOGRAPHY IN CATTLE - TECHNIQUE AND NORMAL APPEARANCE

Sialography of the bovine mandibular and parotid salivary glands was p erformed by injecting iodinated, water soluble contrast medium into th e respective ducts. The anatomy of the above mentioned salivary glands was studied on cadaver heads. The mandibular duct enters the oral cav ity on the ventral surface of the sublingual caruncles, which are loca ted medial to the orifice of the ventral sublingual gland duct. The pa rotid gland duct enters the oral cavity on the cheek opposite the uppe r 2nd molar (5th cheek tooth). Prior to applying sialography to live a nimals, the technique of catherization, injection and radiography had to be developed, which was carried out on cadaver heads. Subsequently the technique was applied to 5 live animals. The animals were sedated, the mandibular and parotid ducts catheterized, and contrast medium wa s injected into each gland. Latero-lateral radiographs were made immed iately after the injection. The normal bovine mandibular and parotid g lands, as depicted on sialograms, have a multilobulated appearance in cadaver heads, but in the live animal only the ducts and their smaller branches could be identified. The parotid duct leaves the deep surfac e of the rostral end of the gland and courses along the border of the masseter muscle before it enters the mouth. The mean diameter of the d uct was 4.2 +/- 0.3 mm. The mandibular duct is composed of a rostral a nd a caudal branch. The caudal branch describes a semi circular turn p rior to joining the rostral branch. The mean diameter of the main duct was 2.8 +/- 0.4 mm.