Submandibular salivary disease: a proposed allergic aetiology.

Two cases of submandibular gland swelling are documented. In one patient examination of the excised submandibular gland revealed a dense eosinophilia: the other patient had a peripheral blood eosinophilia. Both patients demonstrated a marked decrease in the swelling of the salivary glands after a course of oral antihistamine. Although allergy has been implicated as a cause of recurrent parotid gland swelling, there are no previous reports of such a phenomenon occurring in the submandibular gland.