Hepatitis C Virus Induced Sjogren Syndrome - Clinical and Imaging Features

Primary Sjogren syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune exocrinopathy, in which hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is considered an exclusion criteria, a highly debated topic, mainly because HCV is viewed as a possible ethiopathogenic factor in the disease onset. We report the cases of two female patients diagnosed with HCV chronic infection, whom developed casual sicca symptoms, parotidomegaly and were later diagnosed with HCV-induced SS. First patient developed only the histopathological criteria of pSS and co-existence of mixed cryoglobulinemia, which is viewed as a HCV-related marker. The second patient developed both histopathological and serological (anti-Ro and anti-La autoantibodies) SS-related markers.