Application of Imaging Techniques in Autoimmune Diseases of Head and Neck

Abstract

Autoimmune disease (AD) is a kind of chronic and heterogeneous disease caused by the production of a large number of autoimmune antibodies and immune complexes due to the absence of immune tolerance to autoantigen [1]. It can be divided into organ-specific and systemic autoimmune diseases. Organ-specific autoimmune diseases mainly include chronic ulcerative colitis, myasthenia gravis, pulmonary hemorrhage-nephritis syndrome, and so on. Systemic autoimmune diseases include systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), scleroderma, and so on. Its specific pathogenesis is unknown. Some scholars believe that it is a complicated process affected by environmental and other factors on the basis of genetic susceptibility [2]. Each disease has specific target cells and target organs, often involving multiple organs and multiple parts. Autoimmune diseases are diagnosed mainly based on laboratory tests and clinical manifestations. Tissue biopsy and pathological diagnosis are the gold standards, and imaging examination is used to assist in judging the extent, depth, and other aspects of the lesion. When the autoimmune disease involves head and neck organs, corresponding clinical and imaging findings will appear. Take the IgG4-related disease for example. It can affect many parts and organs such as orbital soft tissue, salivary gland, head and neck skin, nervous system, and thyroid gland. Imaging shows specific manifestations such as symmetrical enlargement of the lacrimal gland, submandibular gland or parotid gland, thickening of pituitary stalk or pituitary goiter, and thyroid change. For lesions of the atlantoaxial joint synovium of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), imaging can be used to determine the atlantoaxial involvement, whether it is combined with atlantoaxial joint dislocation, synovial lesions, spinal cord compression, and so on. The common imaging techniques clinically used at present include conventional X-ray, CT, MRI, and molecular imaging. Different imaging techniques have their own advantages and limitations. As new imaging technologies develop rapidly, imaging examination techniques are more and more widely used in the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases. This chapter mainly summarizes various imaging examination techniques applicable to autoimmune diseases of the head and neck, including their characteristics and differences, as well as the advances of new imaging techniques. In this way, imaging examination techniques can be chosen for the parts to be examined in a targeted way so that they can play the best role in diagnosing different diseases.