Assessment of the systolic and diastolik heart functions by classical and tissue doppler echocardiography in patients with sjogren's syndrome

Sjogren?s syndrome is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands. To the best of our knowledge, left ventricle functions in SS patients have not been studied previously. We aimed to investigate the left ventricle functions in SS patients. Twentyeight women were included in the study. Twenty of them were classified as definite SS according to the European - American consensus criteria, and 8 of them were classified as probable SS according to the preliminary European criteria. We evaluated the diastolic and systolic left ventricle functions with classical (ejection fraction, E, A) and tissue Doppler (Sm, Em, Am) echocardiography. Mean ejection fraction was lower in the definite SS patients compared to the control group but this did not reach statistically significance. Mean Sm was similar between groups. Mean E value and E/A ratio were significantly lower in the definite SS patients when compared to the control group. Frequency of subjects who had E/A ratio <1 was significantly higher in the definite SS group compared to the control group. Mean Am value was significantly higher and mean (E/A)m ratio was significantly lower in the definite SS patients compared to the control group. However, echocardiographic measurements were similar between probable SS and control group except for the E value. Median E value was significantly lower in the probable SS group compared to the control group. In conclusion, diastolic functions in SS patients who have no sign of heart failure seem to be adversely affected, this is more marked among definite SS patients compared to probable SS patients.