title: Small airway disease associated with Sjögren's syndrome: clinico-pathological correlations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Relationships among clinical, physiological, imaging and pathological findings of small airway disease associated with Sjögren's syndrome have remained unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively studied 14 patients who underwent surgical lung biopsy and who were diagnosed with small airway disease associated with primary or secondary Sjögren's syndrome. We compared clinical, bronchoalveolar lavage, physiological, imaging and pathological findings between primary and secondary Sjögren's syndrome. We scored HRCT and pathological abnormalities and investigated correlations among physiological, HRCT and pathological data, changes in physiological parameters and in HRCT scores after two years of treatment, as well as correlations between these values and pathological scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, physiological, imaging and pathological findings of the airways did not significantly differ between primary and secondary Sjögren's syndrome. Air trapping on HRCT negatively correlated with MEF50 and MEF25. Although lymphoid cell infiltration and peribronchiolar fibrosis were the most common pathologies, constrictive change scores correlated negatively with MEF50 and MEF25, positively with air trapping scores and negatively with improvements after therapy in MEF(50), MEF(25) and air trapping.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Constrictive change was the most significant determinant of physiological and imaging presentations and of changes in these factors after therapy for small airway disease associated with Sjögren's syndrome.
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Fukui University Hospital, 23 Shimoaizuki, Eiheizi-cho, Fukui 910 1193, Japan. mnakanishi@nifty.ne.jp
authors: Masanori
authors: M
authors: Nakanishi
authors: Junya
authors: J
authors: Fukuoka
authors: Tomonori
authors: T
authors: Tanaka
authors: Yoshiki
authors: Y
authors: Demura
authors: Yukihiro
authors: Y
authors: Umeda
authors: Shingo
authors: S
authors: Ameshima
authors: Satoshi
authors: S
authors: Nishikawa
authors: Masanori
authors: M
authors: Kitaichi
authors: Harumi
authors: H
authors: Itoh
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Ishizaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D017563:Lung Diseases, Interstitial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed