[Systemic manifestations of primary Gougerot-Sjögren syndrome. Nature and incidence apropos of 34 cases].

OBJECTIVES

Assess the systemic manifestations observed in patients with primary Sjörgen's syndrome and the correlation between clinical findings and paraclinical data.

METHODS

This retrospective study included patients who met the preliminary European criteria established in 1993.

RESULTS

Among the 34 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (32 women, 2 men, mean age 54.9 years), systemic manifestations were observed as the inaugural sign in 25 (73.5%) and 31 cases (91%) during a mean 43-month follow-up. Clinical signs in 23 patients were: neuropsychiatric disorders including depressive syndromes (n = 17) and peripheral neuropathies (n = 13), joint and muscle disorders (n = 16), Raynaud's phenomenon (n = 8), pulmonary disorders (n = 8), digestive disorders (n = 8) including two cases of chronic autoimmune hepatitis, skin disease (n = 7), and renal (n = 3) and thyroid (n = 8) disorders. Antinuclear antibodies were found in 20 cases and anti-SSA antibodies in 5 associated with anti-SSB in 4. Eight patients had hematologic disorders. There was a correlation between the number of systemic signs (at least 2) and positive Rose-Bengal test (p = 0.045).

DISCUSSION: Different systemic manifestations were found at percentages comparable with data in the literature except for Raynaud's syndrome which was less frequent and neurological disorders which were more frequent.