Parotid enlargement - Causes and Symptoms

Definition

The major salivary glands (parotid, submaxillary and sublingual) may be affected by various conditions that cause their swelling (swelling).

A common cause, especially in children, that causes the benign enlargement of the parotid glands is mumps (mumps). However, if the patient is an adult and the swelling affects only one side, it is more frequent that it is a scialoadenitis, an obstruction of the flow of saliva (salivary calculosis) or a benign or malignant tumor of the salivary glands. A similar glandular involvement is also manifested in the context of autoimmune diseases, such as Sjögren's syndrome, or metabolic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus.

Mumps is a viral infection that usually causes acute inflammation, with extremely painful swelling, of the salivary glands, most commonly of the parotids. Glandular swelling, in general, is bilateral (affects the region behind the parotid, in front of and below the ear) and persists for at least 5-7 days, associated with pain on chewing or swallowing. Furthermore, the skin above the glands can become tense and shiny. Being a systemic disease, it is also recognized for the presence of other symptoms, such as headache, anorexia, fever and general malaise.

Some infections can spread by contiguity to the major salivary glands and cause a volumetric increase in the parotids. This is the case of tonsillitis, mononucleosis and cat scratch disease ( Bartonella infection that often invades the periparotide lymph nodes).

Parotid swelling may also be related to the use of particular drugs.