Morphological and Structural variations in Parotid gland: A cadaveric study and its clinical implications

Introduction: An accessory parotid gland is defined as “the salivary tissue present in close association to the Stenson's duct lying on the masseter but away from the parotid gland”. Very often the accessory salivary gland tissue is located in front of the parotid gland. The accessory parotid tissue is found in more than 21% of adults. Any disease process which affects salivary glands may affect accessory parotid gland. Objectives: present study was conducted to study the morphology of parotid gland, structural variation including accessory parotid glands in Indian population. Materials and Method: study was conducted by studying 50 dissections of parotid glands. The Weight of the gland was measured in gms, cranio-caudal and ventro-dorsal dimension was measured in cms. Mean and standard deviation was calculated. Accessory parotid gland was explored and examined. Results: overall incidence of accessory parotid gland was noted in 5 (10%) of cases. Bilateral accessory gland was noted in 2 (4%) of cases. Unilateral accessory parotid gland was noted in 3 (6%) of cases. Conclusion: Accessory parotid gland is a prominent morphological variation in Indian population.