Year : 2018

Volume : Volume 8

Issue : Issue 3

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Sunanda Bhatnagar.
SunandaBhatnagar@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:  Rheumatoid Arthritis is a slowly progressive systemic chronic inflammatory disease of the connective tissue which affects joints, often leading to permanent deformity, influencing other systems also. Sjogren’s syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disorder of the exocrine glands with associated lymphocytic infiltrates. Dryness of mouth and eyes referred to as sicca syndrome results from involvement of the salivary and lacrimal glands. This exocrinopathy when occurs in the presence of another autoimmune disorder such as Rheumatoid Arthritis is termed as Secondary Sjogren’s syndrome. This paper is based on a combined radiological and fundamental study of salivary glands aimed to assess the ultrasonographic technique as a sensitive and an early predictor of Sjogren’s syndrome in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The patients were assessed for significant structural changes and salivary functions. Some of the ultrasonographic findings derived in the study of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis were: Coarse and heterogeneous parenchymal echo pattern, a few level IB lymphadenopathy, increased or decreased vascularity, coarse honeycombed parenchymal appearance. The suggested conclusion of this paper is that ultrasonography of salivary glands with Rheumatoid Arthritis compared with normal subjects is an effective method for diagnosing early changes and that patients with early onset and longstanding history of Rheumatoid Arthritis showed representative structural changes, suggestive of increased predisposition to secondary Sjogren’s syndrome.

Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, structural changes.