Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on May 30, 2003
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rheumatology 2003; 42: 1164-1167
© 2003 British Society for Rheumatology
Paucity of Sjögren-like syndrome in a cohort of HIV-1-positive patients in the HAART era. Part II
Academic Departments of Pathophysiology (AIDS Unit) and 1Pathology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, 3Dental Clinic and 4Eye Clinic, Laikon General Hospital, Athens, Greece
Correspondence to:
T. Kordossis, Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, 75 Mikras Asias Street, Athens 11527, Greece. E-mail: tkordoss{at}med.uoa.gr
Objective. This study was performed in order to investigate the prevalence of Sjögren-like syndrome (SLS) in the highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) era in a cohort of HIV-1-positive Greek patients.
Methods. One hundred and thirty-one unselected patients were screened by the validated European Union (EU) criteria for Sjögrens syndrome. Of the 31 who gave a positive EU-validated questionnaire, 17 consented to undergo minor salivary gland biopsy and other tests.
Results. Only two patients had a positive salivary gland biopsy and both belonged to the non-compliant HAART group, whereas none of the compliant HAART patients had histological findings.
Conclusions. It is concluded that SLS, the prevalence of which in the pre-HAART era was 7.8%, has disappeared, possibly as a result of the protective action of HAART.
KEY WORDS: Sjögren-like syndrome, HIV infection, HAART, Pathology.