Salivary Gland, Duct - Concretion

Salivary gland, Duct - Concretion in a female F344/N rat from a subchronic study. The relatively large concretion (arrow) is obstructing and expanding a salivary duct.
Figure 1 of 6

Salivary gland, Duct - Concretion in a female F344/N rat from a subchronic study (higher magnification of Figure 1). The concretion became fragmented during processing.
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Salivary gland, Duct - Concretion in a male B6C3F1 mouse from a subchronic study. There is a basophilic concretion (arrow) in a salivary duct.
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Salivary gland, Duct - Concretion in a male B6C3F1 mouse from a subchronic study (higher magnification of Figure 3). The concretion is eliciting a chronic inflammatory response around the duct with fibrosis.
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Salivary gland, Duct - Concretion in a female F344/N rat from an acute study. There is a basophilic concretion (arrow) in a salivary duct.
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comment:
Concretions (mineralization of material in the ductular lumen) occur infrequently but are most commonly seen in older animals as a background lesion. They may be seen with atrophy. Concretions or foreign bodies can lead to duct dilation, inflammation, and fibrosis.recommendation:
A concretion in a salivary duct should be diagnosed whenever present. They need not be graded unless grading would divulge a treatment effect. Secondary lesions, such as dilation, inflammation, and fibrosis, need not be diagnosed separately unless warranted by severity.references:
Botts S, Jokinen M, Gaillard ET, Elwell MR, Mann PC. 1999. Salivary, Harderian, and lacrimal glands. In: Pathology of the Mouse (Maronpot RR, ed). Cache River Press, St Louis, MO, 49-80. Abstract: http://www.cacheriverpress.com/books/pathmouse.htm
Neuenschwander SB, Elwell MR. 1990. Salivary glands. In: Pathology of the Fischer Rat (Boorman GA, Montgomery CA, MacKenzie WF, eds). Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 31-42. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/9002563
Web page last updated on: November 17, 2014