The diagnostic value of salivary gland scintigraphy in patients suspected of primary Sjögren's syndrome.

The diagnostic value of salivary gland scintigraphy in patients suspected of having primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) was studied in 149 consecutive patients who presented with joint and/or muscle complaints in combination with dryness of the mouth and/or eyes and in 20 control subjects. The diagnosis primary SS could be established in 26 of these patients. Salivary gland scintigraphy scored by means of analogue pictures was abnormal in 19 out of 26 patients with primary SS but abnormal scintigrams were also found in 57 of the 123 patients without primary SS and in five of the controls. This resulted in a positive predictive value of an abnormal salivary gland scintigram of 25% and a negative predictive value of a normal investigation of 90%. From the high number of false positive test results in the patient population studied it is concluded that salivary gland scintigraphy has only a limited discriminatory value for the diagnosis of primary SS.