Sjögren's syndrome and ranula development.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that the extravasation of saliva from damaged ducts with lymphocytic infiltration in patients with Sjögren's syndrome causes ranulas. There are too many uncertainties to support this hypothesis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between Sjögren's syndrome and ranulas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We observed three cases of patients with ranulas who were also diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome at the same facility. These cases led to the question of whether there are other such cases, and thus, an exhaustive literature search was conducted. RESULTS: Three cases in two case reports of mucocele of the floor of the mouth associated with adult Sjögren's syndrome were noted. Including our cases, until now, there have been six cases of ranula with adult Sjögren's syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: It could be useful to investigate whether patients presenting with a ranula are also affected by Sjögren's syndrome and, conversely, investigate patients with Sjögren's syndrome longitudinally to see whether they develop ranulas.