Sjogren's syndrome: a correlation between ocular findings and labial salivary gland histology

Forty three patients with Sjoegren's syndrome, and 11 patients with other diseases, were subjected to complete ophthalmic evaluation and to the study of biopsies of their labial salivary gland tissues. Of the patients with grade 4 lymphocytic infiltration of these labial tissues, more than 90% had reduced or absent tear lysozyme levels. There was a high degree of correlation between the severity of keratoconjunctivitis sicca in patients with Sjoegren's syndrome and the degree of lymphocytic infiltration of the labial salivary gland tissues. It would therefore be highly desirable to study labial biopsies in patients with suspected Sjoegren's syndrome.