Table 1:

Clinical manifestations of primary Sjögren syndrome

Clinical manifestationPrevalence, %Clinical and laboratory features
Glandular (10)
  • Destruction of the glandular epithelium, antibodies against muscarinic receptors, impairment of neurotransmission

Oral dryness (7)90
  • Difficulty chewing or swallowing, sore mouth

  • Oral infections and dental caries, fungal infections (pseudomembranous or erythematous mucosal lesions, fissured tongue, atrophy of filiform papillae and angular cheilitis)

Parotid gland enlargement (7)50
  • Usually bilateral, firm to palpation, asymptomatic, adverse predictor of lymphoma

Ocular dryness (7)95
  • Sandy feeling or itchiness of the eyes

  • Reduced tear secretion, chronic irritation and destruction of the corneal and bulbar conjunctival epithelium (keratoconjunctivitis sicca)

Dry skin~10
  • Dry skin with accompanying pruritus

Dryness of the upper respiratory tract (7)20
  • Dry nasal mucosa, xerotrachea, bronchitis sicca

  • Chronic dry cough, shortness of breath (xerotrachea/bronchitis sicca)

Dyspareunia (11)40
  • Dyspareunia commonly observed in premenopausal women (dysfunction of lubricative vaginal glands)

Extraglandular (systemic)
Nonspecific
 Musculoskeletal (7)70
  • Jaccoud arthropathy (reversible hand deformities, absence of erosive lesions); (7), (25), (26) radiographs of the hands show soft-tissue calcification (especially in association with Raynaud phenomenon) (12)

 Raynaud phenomenon (12)30
  • Milder in Sjögren syndrome compared with other autoimmune diseases; no associated vascular complications (12), (27), (28)

 Fatigue (13)70
  • Increase demand for rest, associated with functional disability

Periepithelial
Bronchial (7)20
  • Peribronchial and/or peribronchiolar mononuclear inflammation

  • Dry cough and shortness of breath on exertion

  • Pulmonary function testing: predominantly small airway obstructive pattern

  • Chest radiography: usually normal or ill-defined pattern of infiltrates

  • High-resolution computed tomography: thickened bronchial walls; pure interstitial involvement is less frequent (common types: lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia characterized by thin wall cysts on imaging, lymphocytic bronchiolitis (29), (30))

Liver
  • Lymphocytic infiltration around cholangial cells

 Hepatomegaly (14)25
  • Antimitochondrial antibodies and Sjögren syndrome: two-thirds of patients show liver enzyme abnormalities

  • Liver histopathology: mild intrahepatic bile duct inflammation reminiscent of primary biliary cirrhosis (stage I) (14)

  • Progression of Sjögren syndrome–associated primary biliary cirrhosis: very slow in clinical, serologic and histopathologic terms (31)

 Presence of antimitochondrial antibodies (14)5
Kidney (15)2.5
  • Interstitial nephritis-lymphocytic infiltration around renal tubular cells

  • Subclinical course

  • Distal renal tubular acidosis (hypokalemia, low specific gravity and alkaline pH of the urine, nephrocalcinosis) (15), (32), (33)

  • Mild chronic renal compromise (34)

Endocrine glands
  • Periepithelial lymphocytic infiltrations in thyroid, adrenals, ovaries

Autoimmune thyroid disease
  • Suggests a subtype of Sjögren syndrome with a mild course and C4 normocomplementemia (35)

  Antibodies to thyroid antigens (16)10–20
  Clinical hypothyroidism (16)1.5–16.5
Autoimmune adrenal disease
  Antibodies to adrenal antigens (21 hydroxylase) (17)17
  • Associated with B-cell activating cytokines and adrenal hyporesponsiveness

  Overt adrenal failure (17)0
Autoimmune ovarian disease
  Antibodies to ovarian antigens (18)27
Immunocomplex-associated disease
  • Deposition of immunocomplexes in small vessels of the skin, nerves, kidney, brain as a result of B-cell hyperactivity

Cutaneous vasculitis (7), (19), (20)
  Palpable purpura (7)10
  • Most common manifestation of cutaneous vasculitis

  • Associated with hypocomplementemia and cryoglobulinemia conferring increased risk of lymphoma

  • Flat purpura can also occur in the setting of hypergammaglobulinemia

Peripheral neuropathy (21), (22)2–10
  Sensory axonal neuropathy
  • Glove–stocking distribution

  Small fibre neuropathy
  • Painful or burning paresthesia

  Sensorimotor neuropathy
  • Adverse predictor of lymphoma in association with hypocomplementemia, cryoglobulinemia and vasculitic lesions

Glomerulonephritis (15)~2
  • Associated with systemic vasculitis, hypocomplementemia and cryoglobulinemia; adverse predictor of lymphoma and survival

  • Membranoproliferative and membranous glomerulonephritis are the most commonly occurring histopathologic types

  • Immunofluorescence showing IgM and complement deposition in renal tissues; hypertension, mild proteinuria and hematuria are the most common manifestations (36)

Central nervous system vasculopathy (23), (24)3–20
  • Associated with antibodies against SSA (Ro/SSA)

  • Multiple sclerosis-like features (24), (37)

  • Antibodies against aquaporin-4 have been detected among patients with lupus and Sjögren syndrome with evidence of longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis or optic neuritis (38)

Lymphoma (6)5–10
  • Chronic antigenic stimulation, genetic aberrations

  • Sites of involvement include minor and/or major salivary glands, stomach, lungs, nodes; involvement of bone marrow is rare

  • Adverse predictors of lymphoma include peripheral neuropathy, glomerulonephritis, lymphopenia, vasculitic or purpuric lesions, low C4 levels, cryoglobulinemia, germinal centres in salivary gland biopsy (7), (9), (39), (40)

 Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (most common); nodal marginal zone lymphoma; diffuse large B-cell lymphoma