NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Ultrasonography of the major salivary glands may have a role in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with clinically suspected primary Sjogren’s syndrome, researchers from the Netherlands report.
Salivary gland biopsies and anti-SSA/Ro antibodies are important for classifying patients as primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS). Some studies have also supported using ultrasonography of the major salivary glands as a diagnostic method.
Dr. Hendrika Bootsma from University Medical Center in Groningen and colleagues in the EULAR US-pSS Study Group assessed the validity of salivary gland ultrasonography compared with parotid and labial gland biopsies, sialometry, and anti-SSA/Ro antibody status and various classification criteria in their cross-sectional study of 103 patients with clinically suspected pSS.
Salivary gland ultrasonography predicted parotid gland biopsy outcomes with 84.9% accuracy and an optimal cutoff ultrasound score of 15 (of a possible 48 points) and labial gland biopsy outcomes with 82.4% accuracy and an optimal cutoff score of 14, the team reports in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, online July 28.