Abstract
Purpose:
To investigate the relationship between clinical factors and retinal morphological findings in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS).
Methods:
One hundred thirty five eyes of 135 patients with pSS who underwent minor salivary gland biopsy, immunoserological tests, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination were retrospectively analyzed. Risk factors of abnormally reduced peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness were evaluated. Also, correlation between clinical parameters and pRNFL and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL) thicknesses were evaluated.
Results:
Anti-SSB level (odds ratio (OR) = 1.011; 95% CI = 1.005-1.016; P < 0.001) and anti-SSB positivity (OR = 3.655; 95% CI = 1.425-9.285; P = 0.008) were the significant risk factors of abnormally reduced pRNFL thickness. There was significant negative correlation between anti-SSB level and pRNFL and mGCIPL thicknesses. Compared with anti-SSB negative eyes, pRNFL and mGCIPL thicknesses were significantly reduced in anti-SSB positive eyes (P < 0.05). Histopathologic grading had no significant correlation between pRNFL and mGCIPL thicknesses.
Conclusions:
Anti-SSB positivity and anti-SSB level might be a useful factor for predicting abnormally reduced pRNFL thicknesses in patients with pSS. Patients with higher levels of anti-SSB could be prone to develop further optic nerve damage which may indicate the vulnerability for development of glaucoma.