Histological findings and complications in patients with salivary gland biopsy in two institutions of Medellín, Colombia a descriptive study

Introduction

Salivary gland biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of Sjogren’s syndrome. There are several approaches for the realization of the biopsy, being generally used an approach to the mucosa with the use of various instruments and incisions that vary in length, passing through trucut biopsy to scraping with needle.

Materials and methods

We conducted a descriptive study that included adult patients undergoing salivary gland biopsy between 2017 and 2022. Medical records and salivary gland biopsy reports were used to collect information and registered in the Magpi platform. Sociodemographic, clinical, and histopathological variables were recorded. The qualitative variables were expressed in absolute and relative frequencies; the quantitative ones were by median and interquartile range. Seventy-two biopsies were included.

Results

Regarding demographic characteristics, 87,5% were women with a median age of 52 years. The biopsy characteristics showed that 70 (97,2%) corresponded to a representative sample. Twenty-seven (38,5%) biopsies showed lymphocytic infiltration and reported a classification system, of which the most used one was the Chisholm Mason used in 18 (66,6%) of such biopsies. Complications were present in four (5,7%) patients.

Conclusions

Despite the recommendation of using Focus Score for classification criteria, the Chisholm Mason system is still the most widely used. The present technique is a safe and effective for the realization of minor salivary gland biopsy.