ANTIPHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES IN PRIMARY SJOGRENS-SYNDROME - PREVALENCEAND CLINICAL-SIGNIFICANCE IN A SERIES OF 80 PATIENTS

Objective. To determine the prevalence and clinical significance of an tiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in a cohort of patients with primary S jogren's syndrome (SS). Methods. Eighty patients with primary SS were studied prospectively. The prevalence of aPL and characteristics of th e clinical and laboratory features of these patients were compared wit h those of the following groups of patients: (i) 50 patients with SS a ssociated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); (ii) 100 patients w ith SLE without SS; and (iii) 100 healthy blood donors from the blood bank of our hospital. Results. Only 11 (14%) patients with primary SS were found to have aPL (anticardiolipin antibodies or lupus anticoagul ant, or both) in their sera, but anti beta(2)-glycoprotein I antibodie s were not detected in any patient. In contrast aPL were detected in 1 2 (24%) patients with SS secondary to SLE and in 21 (21%) patients wit h SLE without SS, None of the healthy controls presented aPL in their sera. Patients with primary SS presented a lower prevalence of thrombo cytopenia (p < 0.05) and livedo reticularis (p < 0.01) compared with t he other two groups of patients. No patient with primary SS was diagno sed as having an antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), while 4 (8%) patient s with secondary SS and 9 (9%) with SLE without SS were found to have APS (p < 0.05). Conclusion. In patients with primary SS, aPL are prese nt in a lower percentage than in patients with SS secondary to SLE or in patients with SLE without SS. The presence of aPL in these primary SS patients is not associated with the clinical events of APS.