Figure 1
Representative T2 maps of parotid glands in a single transversal slice in a patient following radiotherapy for head and neck tumour before (A) and after hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) (B) and in healthy control (C). Region of interest (ROI) on the ipsilateral side is encircled by green and on the contralateral side by the white-blue colour. Retromandibular veins (white arrows in B) were always carefully omitted from the ROI.
Table 1
Mean T2 and T2 variability values of parotid glands in patients following radiotherapy for head and neck tumours before and after hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) and in healthy controls
| Ipsilateral side (N = 18) | Contralateral side (N = 18) | Controls (N = 18) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| before HBOT | after HBOT | before HBOT | after HBOT | ||
| MEAN T2 (ms) | 121 ± 20† | 113 ± 16†* | 107 ± 21** | 103 ± 14 | 96 ± 12 |
| T2 VARIABILITY (ms) | 30 ± 8 | 25 ± 8* | 21 ± 8 | 19 ± 6 | 16 ± 4 |
Table 2
Salivary flow, pH, and buffer capacity in patients following radiotherapy for head and neck tumours before and after hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) and in healthy controls
| before HBOT (N = 18) | after HBOT (N = 18) | Controls (N = 18) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unstimulated (median and salivary IQR) flow (mL/min) | 0.22 (0.04-0.54) † | 0.32 (0.08-0.70)*† | 0.61 (0.49-0.99) |
| pH (mean of unstimulated ± SD) saliva | 6.61± 0.69† | 6.72 ± 0.71† | 7.56 ± 0.53 |
| Stimulated (mean ± SD) salivary flow (mL/min) | 0.82 ± 0.60† | 0.90 ± 0.64† | 2.04 ± 0.91 |
| pH (mean of stimulated ± SD) saliva | 7.38 ± 0.74† | 7.48 ± 0.51† | 8.00 ± 0.28 |
| Buffering (median capacity and IQR) of stimulated saliva | 2.00 (1.75-3.00) | 3.00 (2.00-3.00)* | 3.00 (2.00-3.00) |
Figure 2
A correlation between an irradiation dose and variability of T2 values in contralateral parotid glands before hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT).
Figure 3
A correlation between the mean T2 values in ipsilateral parotid glands and stimulated salivary flow before hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) (A) and unstimulated salivary flow after HBOT (B).
Figure 4
A correlation between the mean T2 values in contralateral parotid glands and unstimulated (A) and stimulated salivary flow (B) after hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT).
Table 3
Correlations between mean T2 or T2variability and pH of unstimulated saliva before and after hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) (R-correlation coefficients and p-values)
| Ipsilateral side (N = 18) | Contralateral side (N = 18) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| before HBOT | after HBOT | before HBOT | after HBOT | |||||
| R | p | R | p | R | p | R | p | |
| Mean T2 (ms) | -0.647 | 0.0037 | -0.571 | 0.0133 | -0.557 | 0.0164 | -0.675 | 0.0021 |
| T2 variability (ms) | -0.595 | 0.0092 | -0.506 | 0.0323 | -0.130 | 0.607 | -0.588 | 0.0133 |