[A submandibular swelling: the salivary gland?].

Four patients, three men aged 32, 51 and 74 years, respectively, and a woman aged 34 years, presented with a submandibular swelling. In all four patients, the swelling was caused by submandibular salivary-gland disease. The first patient appeared to have chronic sialoadenitis due to sialolithiasis, in the second patient the diagnosis was sialoadenosis due to anorexia-boulimia, the third patient had a pleomorphic adenoma and the fourth had a malignant neoplasm of the floor of the mouth causing obstruction of the submandibular gland. A submandibular swelling may have many different causes. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between enlargement of the submandibular gland and an enlarged lymph node. Intra-oral inspection and palpation may give valuable information about the origin of some submandibular swellings. Using a combination of history, examination and, when necessary, fine-needle aspiration and röntgenological examination, the diagnosis of submandibular lumps is usually straightforward.