Light microscopy of dried saliva in the evaluation of xerostomia of the sicca syndrome. A preliminary report.

Dried, freshly produced saliva from 21 patients with xerostomia related to the sicca syndrome [15 with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), 3 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and secondary Sjögren's syndrome (sSS), and 3 with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)] and 21 age and sex matched controls, was examined by light microscopy. A typical fern-like pattern was demonstrated by the crystallized mucus of the healthy individuals. In contrast, much thicker, shorter, irregular and densely arranged branches of crystallized mucus, sometimes giving a reindeer horn appearance, were observed in the patients' saliva. Given the lack of a reliable clinical measure for the objective evaluation of xerostomia, light salivary microscopy, simple and easy as it is, may fill this deficit, if its sensitivity and specificity are documented.