Alex Magno Coelho Horimoto, Vinicius de Macedo Possamai and Izaias Pereira da Costa
Introduction: Several autoimmune diseases can be accompanied by dysfunction of the salivary glands, regardless of the presence or absence of association with Sjögren's syndrome (SS). A recent study by Maeshima and colleagues found salivary hyposecretion in 58.3% of patients with various connective tissue diseases, particularly systemic sclerosis (SSc).
Objective: To determine the prevalence of SS and sicca symptoms in patients with SSc. Assess whether the presence of SS in patients with SSc causes worsening of the disease.
Methods: 69 SSc patients periodically monitored in the rheumatology clinic at NHU / UFMS composed the study. All patients were questioned about sicca symptoms and clinical features. We evaluated the RF levels, ANA, anti-Ro / La.
Results and Discussion: 69 SSc patients were enrolled in the study, with average age of 51.2 years, women at 98.3% and white by 50%. Sicca symptoms were present in 48 patients (69,5%) with SSc; 43/69 patients (62,3%) with dry mouth and 46/69 patients (66,7%) with dry eye. Sicca symptoms observed predominantly in patients with diffuse disease (75%). The antinuclear antibody positivity was 95% and the rheumatoid factor (RF) was observed in 14 patients (23.3%). Anti-Ro (SSA) were detected in 11 patients (15,9%) antibodies and anti-La (SSB) in 6 patients (8,7%) in this study. Only 16 patients (23.2%) had true SS, according to the American-European Consensus Group on Classification Criteria for Sjögren's syndrome. The findings in the study corroborate data found in literature. Koback and colleagues found similar data, 68% of patients with the limited form presented sicca symptoms, RF was present in 19.2% and anti-Ro in 10.3%. Hyposecretion salivary study in patients without SS found significant differences between groups, being much higher in the SSc group compared to patients with SLE, RA, MCTD and myopathies.
Conclusion: This study confirms that sicca symptoms are found in large numbers of patients with SSc. SS prevalence was observed in 23.2% of the SSc patients, mainly in patients of diffuse form of the disease. We conclude that the presence of SS did not change positively or negatively the severity or the clinical manifestations observed in patients with SSc.