To assess the prevalence of Sjögren syndrome (SS) in patients with primary progressive MS (PPMS).
SS may be considered in the differential diagnosis of MS. Age at onset and clinical presentation are similar in SS and PPMS. However, occurrence of SS in definite cases of PPMS has been recently reported.
Proposed clinical and laboratory diagnostic criteria for SS were systematically assessed in 60 consecutive patients with PPMS. The authors questioned all patients about xerophthalmia and xerostomia, biopsied minor salivary glands, and performed a Schirmer test, a salivary gland scintigraphy, and anti-Ro (SSa) and anti-La (SSb) serologies.
Ten patients (16.6%) met four or more criteria for SS. This prevalence is higher than in the general population (1 to 5%) and implies that SS can mimic PPMS.
The authors propose that SS should be screened for systematically in patients with PPMS.