Salivary gland imaging

Salivary gland disorders comprise of a small yet an important group of head and neck pathologies. A wide variety of conditions including obstructive, infectious, autoimmune and neoplastic pathologies affect the salivary glands, thus resulting in a wide imaging spectrum. There are various imaging techniques available towards the diagnostic approach of salivary gland disorders ranging from conventional radiography, ultrasonography (USG), computed tomography (CT Scan) to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)1 and so on. The algorithm for imaging the salivary glands depends on the clinical scenario with which the patient presents to the clinician. The purpose of these imaging techniques is to assist the doctor in making a precise diagnosis of the concerned salivary gland pathology. Imaging has an important role to play in detection, diagnosis, aiding biopsy and differentiating benign from malignant pathology. This review is aimed at presenting the different imaging modalities for salivary glands and imaging appearances of common salivary gland diseases.