Why is a salivary gland scan done?
A salivary gland scan is done to:
- Find the cause of swelling in the major salivary glands. Swelling may be caused by an infection (abscess), inflammation, or a pocket of fluid (cyst).
- See if a growth in the parotid gland is a benign tumor or may be cancer.
- Find the cause of dry mouth (xerostomia). Several problems can cause dry mouth, such as a blocked salivary duct, a growth in a salivary gland, or Sjögren's syndrome.
How is a salivary gland scan done?
A salivary gland scan is usually done by a nuclear medicine technologist. The pictures are usually interpreted by a radiologist or nuclear medicine specialist.
You will need to take off jewelry that may get in the way of the scan.
During a salivary gland scan, you will sit with the camera placed at your neck. A small amount of the tracer is put in your vein (I.V.).
The camera will scan for radiation released by the tracer. The pictures are taken every few minutes during the scan. You need to stay very still during the scan so the pictures are not blurry.
You may be asked to suck on a lemon after the first pictures are taken. This causes your salivary glands to release more saliva. Then more pictures are taken.
A salivary gland scan takes about 1 hour.
How do you prepare for a salivary gland scan?
If you are breastfeeding, you may want to pump enough breast milk before the test to get through 1 to 2 days of feeding. The radioactive tracer used in this test can get into your breast milk and is not good for the baby.
What do the results of a salivary gland scan mean?
The results of a salivary gland scan are usually available within 2 days.
Normal: | The tracer moves evenly through the salivary glands and is released normally into the mouth. |
|---|---|
| The salivary ducts leading from the salivary glands are not blocked. Saliva is released in response to sucking on a lemon. | |
Abnormal: | The tracer does not move evenly through the salivary glands. A pocket of fluid (cyst), a pocket of infection (abscess), or a tumor or other growth may be present. |
| The tracer may not flow normally from the salivary glands into the mouth. This may be caused by a tumor pressing on the duct, a stone in the duct, or inflammation of the duct. | |
| The flow of tracer through the salivary glands is decreased. This may point to a condition, such as Sjögren's syndrome. | |
| The amount of tracer in the salivary glands in front of the ear is greatly increased. This may indicate inflammation or infection of the parotid glands (parotitis). |
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