ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the role of conjunctival impression cytology in the diagnosis of Sj?gren's syndrome (SS) and the immunological factors influencing conjunctival lesions.Methods:A total of 57 patients complaining about dry eye were collected, including 38 patients with primary Sj?gren's syndrome (pSS) and 19 patients with non-SS. Conjunctival impression cytology tests were performed for all patients, and they were scored by the Nelson method. Thirty-one patients with SS underwent serological tests such as autoantibodies, immunoglobulins, and complement. The correlation between the relevant data was compared using the t test and the rank sum test. Results:The Nelson grade ≥2 is the positive cut-off value for the diagnosis of SS. The sensitivity was 68.4%, and the specificity was 89.5%, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was 0.767. In patients with SS, there was statistical correlation between the results of conjunctival impression cytology and antinuclear antibody (ANA) ( χ2=4.664, P=0.031), anti-SSA antibody ( χ2=8.58, P<0.01), anti-SSB antibody ( χ2=6.13, P=0.013), anti-SSA-52 antibody ( χ2=6.48, P=0.011), immunoglobulin (Ig)G ( t=-4.344, P<0.01) and rheumatoid factor (RF) ( U=25.0, P<0.01). Conclusion:Con-junctival impression cytology has certain value in the diagnosis of SS and can be used to evaluate conjunctival lesions in SS. Serum ANA, anti-SSA antibody, anti-SSB antibody, anti-SSA-52 antibody, IgG, and RF levels are significantly associated with the degree of conjunctival lesions, and can be considered as an indirect evidence of conjunctival involvement in SS.