An autopsy case of Sjögren's syndrome with acute encephalomyelopathy

Central Nervous System Involvement in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome: Narrative Review of MRI Findings

Central nervous system (CNS) involvement is one of the numerous extraglandular manifestations of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). Moreover, neurological complaints precede the sicca symptoms in 25-60% of the cases. We review the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions typical for pSS, involving the conventional examination, volumetric and morphometric studies, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state fMRI. The most common radiological lesions in pSS are white matter hyperintensities (WMH), scattered alterations hyperlucent on T2 and FLAIR sequences, typically located periventricularly and subcortically. Cortical atrophy and ventricular dilatation can also occur in pSS. Whilst these conditions are thought to be more common in pSS than healthy controls, DTI and resting-state fMRI alterations demonstrate evident microstructural changes in pSS. As pSS is often accompanied by cognitive symptoms, these MRI alterations are expectedly related to them. This relationship is not clearly delineated in conventional MRI studies, but DTI and resting-state fMRI examinations show more convincing correlations. In conclusion, the CNS manifestations of pSS do not follow a certain pattern. As the link between the MRI lesions and clinical manifestations is not well established, more studies involving larger populations should be performed to elucidate the correlations.

A case report of Sjögren syndrome manifesting bilateral basal ganglia lesions

RATIONALE

Peripheral neurological complications in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) seem the most common, however the involvement of central nervous system (CNS) remains unclear. While abnormalities in pSS revealed by brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are usually small discrete hyperintense areas in the white matter on T2-FLAIR weighted MRI, massive brain lesions have been rarely reported, particularly in bilateral basal ganglia.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 51-year-old woman exhibited dizziness, slurred speech and hemiplegia as a manifestation of pSS. Brain MRI revealed bilateral and symmetrical lesions extending into the basal ganglia, corona radiata and corpus callosum.

DIAGNOSES

Primary Sjögren's syndrome was diagnosed on the basis of clinical features, abnormal Schirmer's test and tear break-up time (BUT) findings, high levels of anti-Sjögren's-syndrome-related antigen A (anti-SSA) (Ro) and anti-Sjögren's-syndrome-related antigen B (anti-SSB) (La) antibodies, and positive labial minor salivary gland biopsy results.

INTERVENTIONS

She was treated with intravenous methylprednisolone and discharged on oral steroid therapy of prednisolone acetate.

OUTCOMES

The patient had an excellent response to steroid therapy.

LESSONS

The present case suggests that symmetry bilateral lesions can occur as a symptom of pSS, which could be induced by an autoimmune mechanism.

Progressive cerebellar degeneration revealing Primary Sjögren Syndrome: a case report

Background

Cerebellar ataxia represents a rare and severe complication of Sjӧgren syndrome (SS), especially with a progressive onset and cerebellar atrophy on imaging.

Case presentation

We report the case of a 30-year-old woman, with a past history of dry eyes and mouth, who presented a severe cerebellar ataxia worsening over 4 years associated with tremor of the limbs and the head. Brain MRI showed bilateral hyperintensities on T2 and FLAIR sequences, affecting periventricular white matter, with marked cerebellar atrophy. Complementary investigations confirmed the diagnosis of primary SS (pSS). The patient was treated by methylprednisolone, Cyclophosphamid and Azathioprine. Her clinical and radiological states are stabilized after 2 years of following. Primary cerebellar degeneration is extremely rarely associated with pSS. Few cases of isolated cerebellar ataxia or belonging to a multifocal disease were reported in the literature, most of them characterized by an acute or rapidly progressive onset. Cerebellar atrophy was described in only three patients. There have been few clarifications of the pathogenesis of the neurological manifestations in pSS. Treatment is based on corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents with no consensus of a specific therapy.

Conclusions

Cerebellar ataxia due to pSS may exceptionally mimic a degenerative cerebellar ataxia, especially when the onset is progressive, which represents the particularity of our observation. The role of brain MRI and antibodies remains important for the differential diagnosis.

White matter water diffusion changes in primary Sjögren syndrome

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Histopathologic studies have demonstrated WM damage in primary Sjögren syndrome. The purpose of this study was to evaluate WM microstructural changes by use of DTI-derived parameters in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

DTI was performed in 19 patients with primary Sjögren syndrome (age, 64.73 ± 9.1 years; disease duration, 11.5 ± 7.56 years) and 16 age-matched control subjects. Exclusion criteria were a history of major metabolic, neurologic, or psychiatric disorder and high risk for cardiovascular disease. Data were analyzed by use of tract-based spatial statistics, for which the WM skeleton was created, and a permutation-based inference with 5000 permutations was used with a threshold of P < .01, corrected for multiple comparisons to enable identification of abnormalities in fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity.

RESULTS

Tract-based spatial statistics showed decreased fractional anisotropy in multiple areas in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome compared with control subjects, located mainly in the corticospinal tract, superior longitudinal fasciculus, anterior thalamic radiation, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Increased mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity and decreased axial diffusivity were observed in most of the fiber tracts of the brain in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome, compared with control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with primary Sjögren syndrome show loss of WM microstructural integrity, probably related to both Wallerian degeneration and demyelination.

A new kind of and reversible brainstem involvement in primary Sjögren's syndrome as an initial manifestation

The prevalence of abnormalities on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) varies in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients and they are generally multiple hyperintense areas in the subcortical and periventricular white matter on T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences. Here, we report brainstem involvement in a patient with pSS that was extensive on MRI, but reversible. The patient's outcome was positive. To our knowledge, a similar case has not previously been described.