Is there progressive cognitive dysfunction in Sjögren Syndrome? A preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the progression of cognitive dysfunction in primary Sjögren Syndrome (SS).

METHODS

Twelve subjects with SS were compared with ten subjects with migraine and ten healthy controls on neuropsychological, mood and fatigue tests at baseline and 8 years later.

RESULTS

At follow-up, SS subjects performed below subjects with migraine on the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) but did not differ on other tasks. Compared with controls, both clinical groups obtained lower scores on simple reaction time, patients with SS obtained lower scores on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and patients with migraine performed below controls on the Benton's Judgment of Line Orientation Test (JOLO). Clinical groups did not differ on cognitive changes over time, except that migraine subjects improved on verbal fluency. Compared with baseline, both SS and migraine patients were more impaired on simple reaction time, Trail Making Test part B, Stroop and JOLO. However, they showed higher scores on verbal and visual memory, WCST and CPT reaction time. SS also showed higher levels of depression and fatigue than migraine and controls, with no significant changes over time.

DISCUSSION: Preliminary evidence indicates some cognitive deficits in both SS and migraine following a pattern of fronto-subcortical dysfunction without a significant cognitive decline over time.