Table 1.
Groups of patients.
Fig 1.
Flowchart of the patients from the TEARS study included in the present analyses.
SG, salivary gland. SSRI, Sjögren’s Syndrome Responder Index. SG biopsy and ultrasonography were performed at baseline at the discretion of the evaluating physician, as anticipated in the TEARS trial protocol.
Fig 2.
Salivary-gland ultrasonography grade correlates with salivary flow and histology.
SGUS, salivary gland ultrasonography; UWSF, unstimulated whole salivary flow. The total SGUS grade obtained by summing the grades of the two parotid and two submandibular glands can range from 0 to 16.
Fig 3.
High salivary-gland ultrasonography grade and high focus score predict the response to rituximab.
SGUS, salivary gland ultrasonography; UWSF, unstimulated whole salivary flow. The response was assessed using the SSRI-30 (Sjögren’s Syndrome Response Index 30), defined as an at least 30% improvement from baseline to week 24 in at least two of the following five criteria: fatigue visual analogue scale [VAS], oral dryness VAS, ocular dryness VAS, unstimulated whole salivary flow, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate.