BRONCHIAL HYPERREACTIVITY IN SYSTEMIC-SCLEROSIS PATIENTS - INFLUENCE OF ASSOCIATED SJOGRENS-SYNDROME

Objective-To determine the frequency and relative risk of bronchial hy perreactivity to methacholine in systemic sclerosis patients with or w ithout associated Sjogren's syndrome. Methods-A prospective study of 5 6 patients with systemic sclerosis (42 with the diffuse and 14 with th e limited variant; 24 with associated Sjogren's syndrome), 57 with pri mary Sjogren's syndrome, and 61 healthy controls. Results-Bronchial hy perreactivity (BH) was present in 6.5% of the healthy controls, 25% of the systemic sclerosis patients without associated Sjogren's syndrome , 42.2% of those with primary Sjogren's syndrome, and in 50% of those with systemic sclerosis with associated Sjogren's syndrome, The presen ce of BH did not correlate with age, disease duration, chest radiograp h abnormalities, respiratory, and immunological data. The subgroup of subjects with the limited variant of systemic sclerosis more frequentl y had associated BH than did those with the diffuse variant of the dis ease; coexisting Sjogren's syndrome further increased this frequency. Conclusions-In agreement with previous studies, we have confirmed the high prevalence of bronchial hyperreactivity in primary Sjogren's synd rome; systemic sclerosis likewise appears to be associated with an inc reased frequency of bronchial hyperreactivity compared with healthy co ntrol subjects. There is evidence also that the coexistence of Sjogren 's syndrome and systemic sclerosis further increases the frequency and the calculated relative risk of developing bronchial hyperreactivity.