PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Hocevar

Publications and source records attributed to A Hocevar.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Ultrasonographic changes of major salivary glands in primary Sjogren's syndrome. Diagnostic value of a novel scoring system.

OBJECTIVES: To reveal typical ultrasonographic (US) changes in major salivary glands associated with Sjogren's syndrome (SS) and to determine the diagnostic value of a novel US scoring system. METHODS: In 218 consecutive patients with suspected SS, US of both parotid and submandibular salivary glands was performed besides the regular diagnostic procedure following the American-European Consensus Group criteria of 2002. Five US parameters were assessed: echogenicity, inhomogeneity, number of hypoechogenic areas, the hyperechogenic reflections and clearness of the borders of the salivary gland. The grades of these five parameters for all four salivary glands were summed. The final US score ranged from 0 to 48. RESULTS: SS was established in 68 patients. The remaining 150 subjects, in whom SS was not confirmed, constituted our control group. All five US parameters were significantly associated with SS. The patients with SS had significantly higher US scores than those not diagnosed with SS (P<0.01). Setting the cut-off US score at 17 resulted in the best ratio of specificity (98.7%) to sensitivity (58.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Well-defined US changes in the major salivary glands summarized in our novel scoring system were typical of SS patients. Advanced structural changes found on US imaging almost invariably represent SS salivary gland involvement.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Incidence of primary Sjogren's syndrome in Slovenia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the annual incidence of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) in Slovenia. METHODS: All patients admitted to our department of rheumatology or referred to our outpatient clinic between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2002 owing to sicca symptoms or because of a suspicion of SS were examined. Our rheumatological department is the only tertiary referral centre for the Ljubljana region, which has a population of 599 895 Caucasian people. All patients were evaluated by the validated European criteria for SS. The exact 95% confidence interval (CI) based on binomial distribution was created for the incidence estimate. RESULTS: 248 patients were examined; 71 of them (28.6%; 65 women, 6 men) were diagnosed as having pSS. Their mean (SD) age was 51.3 (14.5) years (range 19-78). The average annual incidence for pSS in our study population was calculated as 3.9 cases per 100 000 inhabitants (95% CI 1.1 to 10.2). CONCLUSION: The estimated annual incidence of pSS in Slovenia is 3.9/100 000.

Adult↗