A Non-Invasive Method for the Diagnosis of Sjogren's Syndrome with the Evaluation of the Capacity of Salivary Glands

Abstract

This study describes a non-invasive method for diagnosing Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) with MR sialography, which is based on the contrasting of the ductal system with its own secretion and the possibility of simultaneous assessment of the secretory function of parotid salivary glands (PSG). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of MR sialography in the diagnosis of SS and chronic parenchymal sialadenitis. Methods and Results: The study included 60 patients aged between 25 and 70 years with PSG impairments. Inclusion criteria: patients suffering from dry mouth and enlarged PSG, with an established diagnosis of SS and chronic parenchymal sialadenitis. The sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy of MR sialography was 96.6% and 95.2% in the diagnosis of SS, and 94.4% and 93.3% in the diagnosis of chronic parenchymal sialadenitis. Specificity of the method was 91.6%. Conclusion: MR sialography, highly effective and identical to sialography, allows detecting typical disorders in parotid salivary glands that are inherent to Sjogren’s syndrome and chronic parenchymal sialadenitis.

Keywords

• magnetic resonance imaging
• Sjogren’s syndrome
• parotid salivary glands
• parenchymal sialadenitis