Sjogren's Syndrome Presenting as a Large Pericardial Effusion / 대한내과학회지

ABSTRACT

Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration to the lacrimal and salivary glands. However, it also includes a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, including musculoskeletal, lung, kidney, neurological, and cardiac manifestations. Cardiac involvement in pSS leads to various conditions including pericardial effusion (PE), left heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and left atrial hypertrophy. A large PE without pulmonary arterial hypertension is extremely rare and there has been no case in Korea, to date. We report a case of a 45-year-old woman with newly-diagnosed pSS who presented with a large PE and pleural effusion. The patient experienced a significant improvement of the PE following treatment with steroids.