Milic et al evaluated the major salivary glands of a patient suspected of having Sjogren's syndrome using ultrasonography. This is a noninvasive way to evaluate the patient. The authors are from the University of Belgrade in Serbia.
Patient selection: suspected Sjogren's syndrome
Salivary gland examined by ultrasonography (US):
(1) left parotid gland
(2) right parotid gland
(3) left submandibular gland
(4) right submandibular gland
US Inhomogeneity
Points
none
0
mild
1
evident
2
gross
3
where:
• Mild inhomogeneity of a salivary gland was considered normal.
total score =
= SUM(points for all 4 salivary glands)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 12
• A score >=6 was used to identify a patient with Sjogren's syndrome.
• A patient with a higher score tended to have a longer duration of illness.
Performance of score:
• The sensitivity was 95% and specificity 90%.
• The negative predictive value was 96%.
• The positive predictive value was 72%.
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