Acute inflammatory swelling of the submaxillary gland, characterized by pain and difficulty in swallowing, may be due to many factors. Ivy1 listed the two most common causes as (1) infection of the tonsils, gums and mouth, causing a submaxillary lymphadenitis, and (2) obstruction of Wharton's duct by calculus or inflammation, causing an acute inflammatory enlargement of the submaxillary gland. Borra2 mentioned another type of inflammatory swelling of the gland due to bacterial invasion. The specific organism of this type of infection has never been isolated, he stated. Additional conditions affecting the salivary glands, as given by Anthony,3 include tuberculosis, syphilis, actinomycosis, neoplasms and Mikulicz's disease. Calculi are perhaps the most common cause of symptoms, and their diagnosis and treatment are covered in the writings of Hamlin,4 Hoover5 and Harrison.6
PHYSIOLOGY
The salivary glands comprising the parotid, submaxillary and sublingual glands have as