HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Thoeny, H. C. Articles by Hermans, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Thoeny, H. C. Articles by Hermans, R.

Gustatory Stimulation Changes the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient of Salivary Glands: Initial Experience¹

¹ From the Department of Radiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. From the 2003 RSNA Annual Meeting. Received January 23, 2004; revision requested March 31; final revision received June 18; accepted August 16. Address correspondence to R.H. (e-mail: robert.hermans@uz.kuleuven.ac.be).

Echo-planar diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was used to evaluate changes in the parotid glands during gustatory stimulation. The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee, and informed consent was obtained from all volunteers. Twelve healthy volunteers (five women, seven men) with a median age of 25 years (range, 22–30 years) were examined with a 1.5-T MR unit. A DW MR imaging sequence was performed once at rest and continuously repeated over a mean period of 26 minutes (range, 24–28 minutes) during salivary stimulation with a tablet of ascorbic acid given orally. During the first 5 minutes (range, 1 minute 30 seconds–7 minutes 30 seconds) of salivary stimulation, a decrease in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was observed in both the parotid (P = .0001) and the submandibular (P = .0004) glands in all volunteers. During the following 15 minutes, a steady increase in ADC from the baseline value was noted for the parotid glands (P = .0022), and peak ADC was reached a median of 21 minutes (range, 14–21 minutes) after the start of gustatory stimulation. The ADC of the submandibular glands did not increase significantly after the start of gustatory stimulation compared with the ADC at baseline. In conclusion, DW MR imaging allows physicians to noninvasively demonstrate functional changes in the salivary glands.

© RSNA, 2005

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Roberts, G. J. M. Parker, C. J. Rose, Y. Watson, J. P. O'Connor, S. M. Stivaros, A. Jackson, and V. E. Rushton Glandular Function in Sjogren Syndrome: Assessment with Dynamic Contrast-enhanced MR Imaging and Tracer Kinetic Modeling--Initial Experience Radiology, March 1, 2008; 246(3): 845 - 853. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C.R. Habermann, P. Gossrau, H. Kooijman, J. Graessner, M.C. Cramer, M.G. Kaul, F. Reitmeier, M. Jaehne, and G. Adam Monitoring of Gustatory Stimulation of Salivary Glands by Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging: Comparison of 1.5T and 3T AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol., September 1, 2007; 28(8): 1547 - 1551. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]