Chapter 4 – Classification Criteria for Sjögren’s Syndrome

Different classification criteria for Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) were proposed by different groups of experts before the 1990s. In the 1990s, a European group of investigators carried out a multicenter study and defined the European classification criteria. In 2002, a reanalysis of the European database and consensus among American and European experts allowed the formulation of the American–European Consensus Group (AECG) criteria, which represented the gold standard for classification of patients with SS in the following decades. In 2012, a group of American experts proposed another set of classification criteria that received the preliminary endorsement of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). To overcome the difficulties, generated by the different classification criteria, a number of American and European investigators decided to form a working group whose objective was to develop a single set of classification criteria. The result of this joint effort is going to be reached in a short time.