Author/Editor		Tomšič, Matija
Title		Prevalenca Sjoegrenovega sindroma v Sloveniji
Translated title		Prevalence of Sjoegren's syndrome in Slovenia
Type		monografija
Place		Ljubljana
Publisher		Medicinska fakulteta
Publication year		2000
Volume		str. 91
Language		slo
Abstract		The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of Sjogren's syndrome (SS) in the general population in Slovenia. SS refers to the combination of a particular form of dry eye (keratoconjuctivitis sicca) and a dry mouth. It is characterised by the lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands, together with polyclonal B cell activation. The latter is illustrated by the presence of multiple autoantibodies against both organ-specific and non-organ specific autoantigens. Therefore a systemic autoimmune process may also affect other organs including the skin, joints, lungs, kidney, thyroid, liver peripheral neural system and mucosal surfaces such as the upper airways and vagina. In addition, SS patients have an increased risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma compared with their age- and sex-matched controls. The First chapter deals with the assessment of the European classification criteria for SS, which was carried out by 16 different centres from 10 European countries. The following 6 items were included in the validated classification criteria for SS: 1) ocular symptoms, 2) oral symptoms, 3) ocular signs (Schirmer's or rose bengal test), 4) focus score >_1 on lip biopsy, 5) evidence of salivary gland involvement (obtained by parotid sialography, salivary scintigraphy, or unstimulated salivary flow), and 6) the presence of anti-Ro/SSA or anti-La/SSB antibodies. The presence of any 4 of the 6 items was proposed to classify a patient as having primary SS (sensitivity 97.5%, specificity 94.2%). These criteria were also selected for the study of the prevalence of Sjogren's syndrome in Slovenia, which is discussed in the Second chapter. 889 adults (436 women and 453 men) residents in Ljubljana were invited to take part in the study. The names and addresses were randomly selected from the telephone directory. To every selected person a letter of invitation was sent explaining the aim of the study. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters)
Descriptors		SJOGREN'S SYNDROME SLOVENIA ROC CURVE