Salivary gland scintigraphy with 99mTc-pertechnetate in Sjögren's syndrome: relationship to clinicopathologic features of salivary and lacrimal glands.

Salivary gland scintigraphy was performed on 52 patients who were suspected of having Sjögren's syndrome (SS), and the results were compared with clinicopathologic features of the salivary and lacrimal glands. The time-activity curves which were obtained from computer-assisted analysis of 99mTc-pertechnetate (99mTc) scintigraphy were classified into four types (normal, median, flat and sloped types). The stimulated parotid flow rate decreased and the incidence of SS-related sialographic and histopathologic findings increased significantly as the scintigraphic abnormality advanced. In addition, the lacrimal gland function decreased and the proportion of patients diagnosed as having keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) increased significantly as the scintigraphic abnormality advanced. These results indicate that the results of scintigraphy are related not only to the clinicopathologic features of the salivary glands but also to the lacrimal gland function in SS.