Untreated dry syndrome may lead to local manifestations such as oral dryness, ocular dryness, and systemic manifestations of impaired function of muscles and joints, kidneys and lungs.
1. Local manifestations:
(1) Oral dryness: severe dryness of the mouth may occur, and solid food needs to be swallowed with water; rampant dental caries occurs, and the teeth gradually turn black, fall off, and finally leave only the residual roots; parotid gland enlargement and tongue dryness, cracking, swelling and pain may also occur.
(2) Eye dryness: dry eyes, foreign body sensation, few tears, and also swelling of eyelids, corneal ulcers, etc.
2. Systemic manifestations:
(1) Muscle and joints: about 80% of the patients have joint pain, 10% of them have joint swelling, and some of them can be relieved by themselves.
(2) Kidney: about half of the patients will have damage to the renal tubules, and some of them may have damage to the glomeruli, which may be manifested as renal stones, renal bone disease, periodic hypokalemic paralysis and so on.
(3) Lungs: upper and lower respiratory system can be involved, appearing such as interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, and in severe cases, develop into respiratory failure.
Dry syndrome can involve many organs of the body, if not actively treated can cause multi-system damage. Patients should consult the rheumatology and immunology department as early as possible, and strictly follow the doctor’s instructions to standardize the treatment.