Some Aspects On The Sicca Syndrome

The main symptoms of the sicca syndrome are keratoconjunctivitis sicca and xerostomy, most often combined with rheumatoid arthritis.Cases of rheumatoid arthritis often show arteriolitis, venulitis and capillaritis in different places and in different organs.Cases of the sicca syndrome are often accompanied by chronic arthritis and then also show the same changes in the small vessels.Cases of the sicca syndrome may occur without any signs of arthritis. In these cases too, however, vascular changes are found and the rheumatic blood reactions are even more pronounced than if and when the symptoms in the joints appear.The author considers that the etiology of the sicca syndrome is a circulatory disturbance associated with autoimmune processes. Because the sicca syndrome is almost exclusively a female disease, one must also take into account some disturbance in the female sex hormones.