Minimally invasive ultrasound-guided parotid gland biopsy in cadavers performed by rheumatologists

INTRODUCTION: Surgical biopsy of minor salivary glands is routinely performed for the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome. However, surgical biopsies of the minor labial glands may result in various complications in up to 6% of patients. On the other hand, adverse events following core needle biopsies of the parotid gland in non-rheumatological settings have been reported as very rare. AIM: The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and determine the presence of parotid gland tissue in ultrasound-guided parotid gland biopsies performed by rheumatologists in cadavers. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two senior rheumatologists obtained, under direct ultrasound visualization in in-plane technique, biopsies of 8 parotid glands from 4 different cadavers using a core biopsy needle. One biopsy per gland was taken. RESULTS: All histological exams showed typical parotid gland tissue without any neuronal or vascular tissue. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we demonstrated that minimally invasive, ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy of the parotid gland is a highly precise and easy method to obtain salivary gland tissue.