Salivary scintigraphy for Sjogren's syndrome in patients with xerostomia: A retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: The value of salivary gland scintigraphy in the diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome remains controversial. The primary aim of this study was to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of salivary gland scintigraphy in the diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome among 237 patients with xerostomia. METHODS: We retrospectively compared eight scintigraphy parameters between 106 Sjogren patients and 131 non-Sjogren patients. RESULTS: Seven of the eight parameters were significantly decreased in patients with Sjogren; however, their diagnostic accuracy was low, with areas under the curves (AUCs) ranging from 0.58 (95% CI 0.50-0.65) to 0.63 (95% CI: 0.55-0.70). The prestimulatory oral activity index allowed discrimination between primary and secondary Sjogren's syndrome (AUC 0.73, 95% CI: 0.62-0.84), and the secretion velocity for parotid glands allowed discrimination between patients with Sjogren and burning mouth syndrome (AUC 0.71, 95% CI 0.59-0.82). CONCLUSION: The accuracy of scintigraphy parameters for the diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome among patients with xerostomia was low; however, some functional indices appeared to assist discrimination between primary and secondary SS patients and between subgroups of patients with different causes of xerostomia.