According to a recent long-term longitudinal study published in the Rhinology journal, rhinosinusitis without nasal polyposis was linked with higher chances of having Sjögren syndrome diagnosis than rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis. Lee IH and Kim DK investigated the possible link between chronic inflammation of the nasal mucosa and sinuses and, the risk of autoimmune conditions i.e., Sjögren syndrome, Ankylosing spondylitis (Bechterew's disease) and Lupus.

Nationwide, 15,130 patients suffering from chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and 30,260 patients without CRS were registered following the 1:2 propensity score matching. The hazard ratio (HR) of CRS for autoimmune disorders was examined via the Cox proportional hazards model.

The occurrence of autoimmune conditions under consideration has been shown in the following Table 1:

The possibility of Sjögren's syndrome in CRS patients considerably increased to an adjusted HR (aHR) of 1.70 compared to the other two conditions. The aHR of developing Sjögren syndrome was greatest in CRS patients without nasal polyposis.