A preliminary study of the structure and function of enlarged parotid glands in chronic relapsing pancreatitis by sialography and biopsy methods.

In the course of gathering material for a thesis, it became evident that bilateral parotid enlargement was associated with chronic relapsing pancreatitis in a large percentage of cases. Information on this combination was meagre in the literature available to us, although Zuidema (1959), Shaper (1960), Wegmann and Sollberger (1960), and Pitchumoni (1965) have noted the association. There is, however, no reference to the changes in structure and function that the parotid glands undergo, except that Wegmann and Sollberger (1960) noted a high amylase content. A study of 23 patients with enlarged parotid glands and chronic relapsing pancreatitis was undertaken, and the results are the substance of this report. The patients were from families whose other members did not show either parotid enlargement or chronic relapsing pancreatitis. Nearly all the patients examined had high fasting blood sugar levels and a near normal total protein content although the albumin:globulin ratio was not normal (Alappatt, 1965). The study was restricted to the structure and function of the parotid gland by biopsy and sialography and the quantity and amylase content of the saliva.