Adipose tissue infiltration in minor salivary glands of patients with Sjögren’s syndrome: Lack of significant correlation with the disease. An image analysis of 174 cases

Abstract

Fatty infiltration in minor salivary gland biopsies and its correlation to systemic autoimmune diseases are controversial in the literature. Presence and extent of fatty infiltration in minor salivary glands of 107 Sjögren’s syndrome patients and 67 age-matched sicca controls were compared with statistical analyses. No significant difference was found regarding the presence or the extent of fatty infiltration between the two groups. Fatty infiltration seems to be unrelated to Sjögren’s syndrome thus its examination in salivary gland biopsy samples cannot improve the diagnostic accuracy of the disease.

Keywords

• minor salivary gland
• sjögren’s syndrome
• fatty infiltration
• image analysis