Sarcoidosis Mimicking Sjögren's Syndrome: Histopathologic Observations

K E Sack; N L Carteron; J P Whitcher; J S Greenspan; T E Daniels

Sarcoidosis Mimicking Sjögren's Syndrome: Histopathologic Observations

J Clin Rheumatol. 1998 Feb;4(1):13-6.

Authors

K E Sack¹, N L Carteron, J P Whitcher, J S Greenspan, T E Daniels

Affiliation

¹ Departments of Medicine, Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco, California (UCSF). Departments of Ophthalmology, Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco, California (UCSF). Departments of Stomatology and Pathology, Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco, California (UCSF).

PMID: 19078237

Abstract

The clinical manifestations of Sjõgren's syndrome (SS) and sarcoidosis can be identical. Of the 1600 patients whom we have evaluated for dryness of the mouth and eyes, 300 proved to have SS and 5 had sarcoidosis. The patients with sarcoidosis had combinations of salivary gland enlargement, elevated antinuclear antibody titers, reduced salivary flow rates, and keratoconjunctivitis sicca, findings typically associated with SS. Finding non-caseating granulomas in a labial salivary gland biopsy specimen may be the only way to definitively differentiate these two disorders.