In primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) dryness of eye and mouth is the cardinal referred symptom. Assessing the rate of activity and damage in the salivary glands of pSS patients is essential to improve disease management. Up to now, a differentiation of activity and damage ultrasonographic (US) lesions is an open issue. The aim of this preliminary study was to identify US lesions which better correlate with loss of function of salivary glands in pSS.
Salivary glands ultrasonography of consecutive patients with established pSS, fulfilling AECG and ACR/EULAR criteria was performed. The association between sialometry and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) oral dryness and SGUS lesions was assessed trough univariate and multivariate analysis.
In 75 established pSS patients, mean disease duration 12.4±7.2 years, the hyperechoic bands of parotid gland (PG) and submandibular gland (SMG) were significantly associated with sialometry (p<0.001) and VAS oral dryness (PG p=0.002, SMG p<0.001). The global glandular involvement (scored according to De Vita et al., 1992) was associated with sialometry (PG p=0.025, SMG p<0.001) and with VAS oral sicca (PG p=0.015, SMG p<0.001). The multivariate analysis selected the hyperechoic bands of PG and SMG as the variables independently associated with sialometry and the hyperechoic bands and the homogeneity in the SMG as associated with VAS oral dryness.
These results indicate that salivary impairment in pSS, as objectively evaluated by sialometry, could be mainly associated with damage (i.e., hyperechoic bands) in established pSS. Additional follow-up studies and improved scoring tools are needed.