Anthropometric parameters of the parotid gland in women with different skull shape

In the literature, the size of the parotid gland is greatly averaged, and there is also little data on the description of the organ in the context of sexual and craniotypic features. Therefore, an intravital study of the parotid gland in women with different skull shapes looks promising and can amplify the overall anatomical picture of the organ. The aim of the study was to study the anthropometric parameters of the parotid gland in women with different skull shapes.

Material and methods. Tomograms of the head organs of 90 women aged 18 to 87 years were analyzed. The transverse-longitudinal index of the skull and the upper-facial index are calculated, groups are identified according to the shapes of the cerebral skull – dolichocranians, mesocranians and brachycranians, according to the shapes of the facial skull – euryprosopes, mesoprosopes and leptoprosopes. The vertical, sagittal, and frontal dimensions were studied, and the volume of the parotid gland was calculated. The comparative analysis of the group indicators was performed using the Kraskell – Wallis criterion, the Mann – Whitney method with the Bonferroni correction, and the nonparametric Spearman method.

Results. The sagittal size of the gland is larger in dolichocran women compared to brachycranians (p < 0.0167). There is negative relationship between the sagittal size of the gland and the shape of the cerebral skull (p < 0.0001, r = –0.34 on the right, p = 0.0004, r = –0.36 on the left). The frontal size of the gland in brachycranian is larger than in mesoand dolichocranian women (p < 0.0167), it positively correlates with different shapes of the cerebral skull (p < 0.0001, r = 0.7 on the right, p < 0.0001, r = 0.66 on the left). The vertical size of the gland increases from euryprosopes to leptoprosopes, and the frontal size is larger in euryand mesoprosopus than in leptoprosopus women. The vertical size of the gland positively depends on the shape of the facial skull (p = 0.0003, r = 0.37 on the right, p = 0.0004, r = 0.36 on the left), and the frontal ‒ negatively (p < 0.0001, r = –0.73 on the right, p < 0.0001, r = –0.77 on the right).

Conclusions. In women, the sagittal and frontal dimensions of the parotid gland have a significant difference in the transverse-longitudinal cranial index. The vertical and frontal dimensions of the gland in different shapes of the facial skull significantly differ.

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