Viral etiopathogenesis of Sjögrenʹs syndrome: role of the hepatitis C virus

Patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection present some extrahepatic manifestations that may mimic the clinical, immunologic and histological manifestations of primary Sjögrenʹs syndrome (SS). Thus, HCV patients with sicca symptomatology and positive autoantibodies could be misdiagnosed as a ‘primary’ SS. Nevertheless, there are several clinical and immunologic features that could help us differentiate both processes