Central Nervous System Compromise In Primary Sj ögren's Syndrome May Be Severe And Varied

[Guest guest]

Central Nervous System Compromise In Primary Sjögren's Syndrome May Be

Severe And Varied

JCR: Journal of Clinical Rheumatology

09/20/2002

By A. Skolnick

Although relatively rare, central nervous system compromise in patients with

primary Sjögren's syndrome may be severe and varied.

- Anaya, MD, at the Corporation for Biological Investigations, in

Medellin, Colombia, and colleagues studied a well-defined group of patients

with Sjögren's syndrome to determine the prevalence and the clinical and

immunogenetic characteristics of central nervous system compromise.

The retrospective study included 120 patients who fulfilled the European

classification criteria for primary Sjögren's syndrome. The researchers

found three of the patients (2.5 percent) had central nervous system

compromise, such as a multiple sclerosis-like illness, complicated migraine,

or optic neuritis with epilepsy.

The central nervous system involvement coincided with the onset of sicca

symptoms in one case. All three patients carried the human leukocyte antigen

(HLA) DQB1*0303 allele and tested positive for anti-Ro antibodies, but not

for anti-cardiolipin antibodies, the investigators reported.

" Although rare, central nervous system compromise in primary Sjögren's

syndrome can be the presenting manifestation of the disease in a few cases,

and may be severe and varied, " they concluded.

Journal of Clinical Rheumatology 2002; 8: 189-196