Clinical utility of salivary and lacrimal gland ultrasonography in primary Sjögren's syndrome

Abstract

This review discusses the clinical utility of salivary gland ultrasonography (SGUS) and lacrimal gland ultrasonography (LGUS) in primary Sjögren's syndrome (SjS). Several studies have shown that SGUS findings improve the diagnostic performance of the recent SjS classification criteria. Lacrimal gland ultrasonography findings can also aid in the diagnosis of SjS. However, SGUS and LGUS findings correlated with salivary or lacrimal gland function and minor salivary gland biopsy findings. A better treatment response to rituximab and salivary stimulants was observed in SjS patients with lower SGUS scores. In addition, the clinical implications of Doppler ultrasonography and ultrasound elastography of the salivary and lacrimal glands were investigated in patients with SjS.This review highlights the advantages of SGUS and LGUS in the diagnosis and prediction of salivary and lacrimal gland functions and treatment response in patients with SjS. Additionally, modalities other than B-mode ultrasonography, such as Doppler ultrasonography and ultrasound elastography, have been actively studied to demonstrate the clinical utility of SjS. Ultrasonography has great advantages such as immediate performance and interpretation, no harmful complications, and no discomfort to patients. Therefore, SGUS and LGUS are potentially useful diagnostic and predictive tools for SjS.