HISTOPATHOLOGY OF RENAL BIOPSIES WITH CORRELATION TO CLINICAL FINDINGS IN PRIMARY SJOGRENS-SYNDROME

Objective. To characterise the renal histopathological lesions in pati ents with primary Sjogren's syndrome and to correlate the findings wit h the clinical manifestations. Methods. Kidney and labial salivary gla nd biopsies from ten patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome were stu died. The protocol included semiquantitative assessments of the inflam matory focus scores and the levels of atrophy, interstitial fibrosis, glomerular sclerosis and vessel wall thickening. Results. No statistic ally significant correlation was found between the kidney and labial i nflammatory scores; this was probably the result of observation of the lesions at different stages. The level of chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis was correlated to the glomerular filtration rate and to the extent of glomerular sclerosis but not to vessel wall thickening. Thes e findings indicate a primary injury of the tubules in primary Sjogren 's syndrome that secondarily compromises the glomeruli. Conclusion. A semiquantitative approach to the assessment of histopathological featu res, as used in this study, appears to be valuable for characterising the lesions in kidney biopsies.