Clinical and Serological Profile of Sj?gren's Syndrome Patients in a Tertiary Care Center in Kashmir, North India

Background: Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune illness characterized by lymphocyte infiltration and exocrine gland inflammation. SS has been considered a rare disorder in India, and data on its clinical manifestations and serology are lacking from North India.Aim: We aimed to study clinical manifestations, organ involvement, and autoantibodies in SS patients from Jammu and Kashmir.Methods: This was a single-center observational prospective study. A total of 50 patients satisfying the American-European Consensus Group criteria were included in the study. Data regarding subjective and objective evidence of disease were compiled. Extraglandular manifestations in the form of musculoskeletal, renal, pulmonary, and neurological were also recorded.Results: Of the 50 patients, 29 were primary SS and 21 were secondary SS. Female preponderance was observed with a female-to-male ratio of 24: 1. Xerostomia was the most common symptom present in all of the patients. The most common extraglandular involvement was musculoskeletal followed by renal and pulmonary.Conclusions: Early onset of the disease by a decade is a surprising observation in this study and rest of the Indian literature compared to western literature.