Treating Sjögren's Syndrome: Insights for the Clinician.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects the exocrine glands, mainly the salivary and lachrymal glands, with consequent persistent dryness of the mouth and eyes. In addition to the clinical manifestations related to the exocrine gland involvement, a consistent prevalence of patients may present systemic manifestations. Some of these can be ascribed to the periepithelial extension of lymphocytic infiltration whilst others are determined by an immunomediated process affecting small- or medium-size vessels.

Sjögren's Syndrome Disease Damage Index and disease activity index: scoring systems for the assessment of disease damage and disease activity in Sjögren's syndrome, derived from an analysis of a cohort of Italian patients.

Objective: To develop valid instruments for the assessment of disease-related damage and disease activity in Sjögren's syndrome (SS).

Methods: Data on 206 patients with primary SS were collected in 12 Italian centers. Each patient was scored by 1 investigator, on the basis of a global assessment of the degree of disease damage and disease activity.