title: Evaluation of Salivary Gland Dysfunction Using Salivary Gland Scintigraphy in Sjögren's Syndrome Patients and in Thyroid Cancer Patients after Radioactive Iodine Therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Salivary gland scintigraphy (SGS) provides an objective means of diagnosing salivary gland dysfunction in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients and in thyroid cancer patients after radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy. In the present study, SGS was performed in SS patients and in thyroid cancer patients post-RAI, and scintigraphic parameters were compared.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight SS patients (males:females = 1:27, age 53.3 ± 11.9 years), 28 controls (males:females = 3:25, age 54.1 ± 10.1 years), and 92 thyroid cancer patients (males:females = 28:64, age 46.2 ± 12.9) who had undergone a session of high-dose RAI therapy (mean dose, 5.2 ± 1.5 GBq) were included. SGS was performed using Tc-99m pertechnetate (925 MBq). Scintigraphic parameters (parotid uptake ratio PU, submandibular uptake ratio SU, percentage parotid excretion %PE, and percentage submandibular excretion %SE) were measured and compared for SS, thyroid cancer post-RAI, and control patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PU, SU, %SE, and %PE were all significantly lower in SS than in post-RAI thyroid cancer or control patients (p < 0.05), whereas only %PE was significantly lower in post-RAI thyroid cancer patients than in controls (p < 0.05). SU and %SE were found to be correlated with the unstimulated whole salivary flow rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Scintigraphic parameters derived from SGS can play a crucial role in the detection of salivary gland dysfunction in SS patients and in post-RAI thyroid cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 166 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 463-707 Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 166 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 463-707 Korea ; Department of Nuclear Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Su Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 166 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 463-707 Korea ; Institute of Radiation Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Won Woo
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 166 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 463-707 Korea.
authors.forename: Sung June
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yun Jong
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 166 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 463-707 Korea ; Institute of Radiation Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Eun
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Radioactive iodine therapy; Salivary gland scintigraphy; Sjögren’s syndrome; Tc-99m pertechnetate; Thyroid cancer