title: Primary Sjögren's syndrome in men: clinical and immunological characteristics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the clinical and immunological characteristics of primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) in men from a large series of unselected patients with this condition.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 223 consecutive patients (204 women and 19 men; mean age at onset 53 y, range 15-87 y, mean disease duration 77 months) with primary SS visited in our units. All these patients fulfilled 4 or more of the diagnostic criteria for SS proposed by the European Community Study Group in 1993.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nineteen (9%) patients were men and they represent the male group described in this paper. Extraglandular manifestations during the course of their disease were present in 10 (53%) of our male patients with primary SS: articular involvement in 4 (21%) patients, interstitial pneumopathy in 3 (16%) and peripheral neuropathy in 2 (11%). ANA were positive in 13 (68%) patients, RF in 5 (31%), anti-Ro/SS-A in 3 (16%) and cryoglobulins in 1/14 (7%). When compared with women, men with primary SS presented a lower prevalence of articular involvement (21 percent; vs 46%, P=0.03, OR 0.32, CI 0.07-0.97).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although primary SS is typically a disease of middle-aged women, clinicians should note that it may be diagnosed in male patients. Except for a lower prevalence of articular involvement, we could no find any notable differences in clinical and immunological characteristics between male and female patients with primary SS.
authors.affiliation: Systemic Autoimmune Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, IDIBAPS (Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques 'August Pi i Sunyer'), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. cervera@medicina.ub.es
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cervera
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Font
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramos-Casals
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: García-Carrasco
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosas
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Morlà
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Artigues
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pallarés
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ingelmo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000032:analysis; D003450:Cryoglobulins / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D003450:Cryoglobulins; C035356:SS-A antibodies; C035357:SS-B antibodies