Sialadenosis in Patients with Advanced Liver Disease

Sialadenosis (sialosis) has been associated most often with alcoholic liver disease and alcoholic cirrhosis, but a number of nutritional deficiencies, diabetes, and bulimia have also been reported to result in sialadenosis. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of sialadenosis in patients with advanced liver disease. Patients in the study group consisted of 300 candidates for liver transplantation. Types of liver disease in subjects with clinical evidence of sialadenosis were compared with diagnoses in cases who had no manifestations of sialadenosis. The data were analyzed for significant association. Sialadenosis was found in 28 of the 300 subjects (9.3%). Among these 28 cases, 11 (39.3%) had alcoholic cirrhosis. The remaining 17 (60.7%) had eight other types of liver disease. There was no significant association between sialadenosis and alcoholic cirrhosis (P = 0.389). These findings suggest that both alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis may lead to the development of sialadenosis. Advanced liver disease is accompanied by multiple nutritional deficiencies which may be exacerbated by alcohol. Similar metabolic abnormalities may occur in patients with diabetes or bulimia. Malnutrition has been associated with autonomic neuropathy, the pathogenic mechanism that has been proposed for sialadenosis.