Time-course of ultrasound abnormalities of major salivary glands in suspected Sjögren's syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether major salivary-gland ultrasonography (SGUS) abnormalities change over time in patients with suspected primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) during the natural course of the disease.

METHODS: We studied patients with suspected pSS who were included in the Brittany cohort of suspected pSS and underwent SGUS at least twice, as part of the routine diagnostic workup done at baseline then at least 1 year later as an additional investigation deemed appropriate by the physician. The evaluation criteria were the semi-quantitative SGUS score (0-4) for each parotid and submandibular gland, the highest SGUS score among the four glands, and the sum of SGUS scores for the four glands. These scores were compared in patients with and without pSS according to the workup at baseline, and their changes over time were assessed.

RESULTS: Of 49 included patients, 29 received a diagnosis of pSS at baseline; none of the remaining 20 patients was diagnosed with pSS at either evaluation. The mean (SD) sum of SGUS scores at baseline was 8.9 (5.6) in patients with and 2.1 (2.9) in those without pSS (P<0.01). Mean time between SGUSs was 1.9 (1.6) years. None of the evaluation criteria changed between the two SGUSs in the overall population, pSS group, or group without pSS. Similar results were found in the subgroup with recent-onset symptoms.

CONCLUSION: SGUS abnormalities assessed using a semi-quantitative score did not change significantly during a follow-up of nearly 2 years after an initial evaluation for suspected pSS.