[Primary Sjögren's syndrome with cutaneous vasculitis manifested as leg ulcerations]

Primary Sjögren's Syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disease with a large spectrum of clinical manifestations extending from an organ-specific involvement to a systemic process. The skin is affected quite commonly and the estimated frequency of inflammatory vascular lesions is from 20% to 30%. Two specific, clinically recognizable forms of cutaneous vasculitis predominate, palpable purpura and chronic urticaria, but erythema multiforme, erythema perstans, erythema nodosum, erithematous macules and subcutaneous nodules have also been described. The authors report the case of a 46-year-old female patient, diagnosed as primary SS, who presented ocular and oral symptoms, poliarthritis and laboratory alterations (with a positive ANA, anti-SSA, rheumatoid factor, and hypergammaglobulinemia). Ten years after the diagnosis, she presented leg ulcers. The biopsy confirmed the presence of vasculitic process, and the ulcers improved rapidly after the treatment with endovenous cyclophosphamide. There are only two reports of chronic ulceration of the legs as cutaneous manifestation of SS. The authors stress the importance of considering ulcers in the differential diagnosis of cutaneous involvement of primary SS.