title: Age-related relaxo-volumetric quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of the major salivary glands.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study age-related characteristics of T1 and T2 relaxation times and volume of the major salivary glands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five subjects (0.5-87 years old) with normal salivary glands were imaged with mixed turbo spin-echo pulse sequences at 1.5-T magnetic resonance units. Bilateral parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands were segmented manually. Histograms for each salivary gland were generated and modeled with Gaussian functions for every parameter.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy parotid glands, 52 submandibular glands, and 50 sublingual glands were segmented and the histograms were analyzed. The parotid gland exhibited shorter-peak T1s and longer-peak T2s relative to the submandibular and sublingual glands. The peak T2s for all glands showed a minimum value between 2 and 4 years of age and increased monotonically thereafter. From birth to early adulthood, all glands increased in size logarithmically.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age-related relaxo-volumetric changes of the major salivary glands show clear T2 and volumetric age-related patterns for all glands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA. naoko.saito.ns@gmail.com
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Corinna M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Norbash
authors.forename: Hernán
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000033:anatomy & histology*