Clinical manifestations and early diagnosis of Sjogren syndrome

Sjogren syndrome (SS) is a common autoimmume disease evidenced by broad organ-specific and systemic manifestations, the most prevalent being diminished lacrimal and salivary gland function, xerostomia, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, and parotid gland enlargement. Primary SS presents alone, and secondary SS occurs in connection with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. In addition, symptoms do not always present concurrently. This diversity of symptomatic expression adds to the difficulty in initial diagnosis. Armed with the recently refined criteria for diagnosis, specialists, such as rheumatologists, primary care physicians, ophthalmologists, and dentists, who would otherwise focus only on those symptoms that encompass their areas of expertise, can get a comprehensive image of the presenting patient, leading to earlier identification and treatment of SS

Lung involvement in Sjogren's syndrome

Lung involvement in primary Sjogren’s syndrome, was first described by Henrik Sjogren more than 50 years ago, who reported similar histopathological changes in the exocrine glands of the bronchi with those observed in the salivary glands. Since then, pulmonary involvement in primary Sjogren’s syndrome, has been the subject of various studies and several pulmonary complications have been described, including bronchial and bronchiolar disease, interstitial pneumonitis, and lymphoma. Although frequent and pleomorphic, pulmonary involvement is rarely clinically severe. However, in the symptomatic patient with significant functional and radiological abnormalities tissue diagnosis, either by transbronchial or by open lung biopsy, is mandatory because of the malignant potential of some lesions