• Xiaomei Li, Bei Xu, Yan Ma, Xiangpei Li, Qi Cheng, Ximei Wang, Guosheng Wang, Long Qian, and Li Wei.
• Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Anhui Medical University Affiliated Provincial Hospital, Hefei, China.
• Int J Rheum Dis. 2015 May 1; 18 (4): 439-46.

AimTo assess the clinical and laboratory features of primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) in a large teaching hospital in China.MethodsThree hundred and fifteen pSS patients diagnosed according to American-European Classification Criteria and consecutively admitted to Anhui Provincial Hospital from 1 January 1999 to 30 September 2012 were retrospectively selected in this study.ResultsThe median age was 46.8 ± 14.4 years (range 13-83 years) and the majority of patients were female (96.5%). The common clinical features at initial presentations were dry mouth (50.2%), dry eyes (31.4%) and joint pain (24.8%); 92.6% of patients had positive anti-SSA antibody and 49.2% patients had positive anti-SSB antibody. One hundred and eighteen patients underwent labial salivary gland biopsy. According to Chisholm grading criteria, grade 3 to 4 was present in 58.5% of the patients. The frequency of interstitial lung disease (ILD) occurred (20.9%) in the patients with systemic extraglandular manifestations. The patients with ILD were frequently associated with positive anti-SSA (P = 0.005) and low levels of C3. The most common impairment of lung function was small airway function abnormalities. Sixty-six pSS patients with ILD (pSS-ILD) were diagnosed with high-resolution computed tomography and treated with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressants, in which 18 patients had improved pulmonary function.ConclusionLabial salivary gland biopsy and anti-nuclear antibodies spectrum were important to the diagnosis of pSS. The pSS patients had high percentage of ILD, especially small airway function abnormalities. The combination of corticosteroids and immunosuppressants appears to be effective in treatment of pSS patients with ILD.© 2015 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

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