Systemic lupus erythematosus with multiple perivascular spongy changes in the cerebral deep structures, midbrain and cerebellar white matter: a case report

Symmetric leukoencephalopathy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus: A systematic review of a distinctive neurorheumatologic syndrome

BACKGROUND

A symmetric leukoencephalopathy can occur in the context of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), often as a first manifestation of underlying rheumatologic disease. Recognition of this distinctive syndrome can prompt investigation for SLE when undiagnosed, or prompt treatment initiation when the diagnosis is already known. Earlier recognition of this syndrome could lead to more effective treatment of the disease.

METHODS

Clinical, laboratory, and radiographic features of three patients were described from an academic medical center in the United States with treatment dates between 2015 and 2022. A systematic review of literature from 1991 to 2023 yielded data for an additional 23 patients.

RESULTS

Twenty-six total patients with symmetric leukoencephalopathy were included in this study. The median age of the patients was 37 years (range 10-69), 22 patients (85 %) were female, and 4 (15 %) were male. Fourteen of 26 patients (54 %) had this as the first clinical manifestation of SLE. Contrast enhancement was present on MRI brain in 3/26 (88 %) patients. Twenty patients (77 %) were treated with pulse-dose steroids, and all but one patient received some immunomodulatory therapy. Seven patients (27 %) progressed to death. No meaningful predictive differences were found between patients who survived and those who did not.

CONCLUSIONS

In this case series and literature review patients developed symmetric leukoencephalopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus most often as the first clinical manifestation of SLE. Clinicians should consider this syndrome in any patient with acute onset of symmetric leukoencephalopathy on brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Intracranial Calcifications in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

We present an unusual case of a 37-year-old woman diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus presenting with right-sided weakness and altered mentation. On computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, marked intracranial calcifications were seen. These localized calcifications are speculated to be secondary to the necrotic focus of repeated episodes of vessel inflammation. However, the pathogenesis of cerebral calcifications is largely unknown.

Brain morphology and cortical thickness variations in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: Differences among neurological, psychiatric, and nonneuropsychiatric manifestations

PURPOSE

To determine whether systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) affecting subcortical white matter volumes, deep gray matter volumes, and cortical thickness differ between groups of SLE patients with psychiatric (P-SLE), neurological (N-SLE), or nonneuropsychiatric (non-NPSLE) presentations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sixty-seven participants were divided into three groups (P-SLE [n = 19], N-SLE [n = 12], and non-NPSLE [n = 36]) and examined with a 1.5T MRI scanner. The images were segmented in FreeSurfer software into volumetric and cortical thickness measures using T₁ 3D magnetization prepared rapid gradient echo-weighted imaging. For comparative analyses of volume, multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) were applied followed by Bonferroni post-hoc tests, with age as a covariate. For cortical thickness analyses, the groups were compared with the Query Design Estimate Contrast tool adjusted for age.

RESULTS

Globus pallidus volumes in both left (P ≤ 0.01) and right (P ≤ 0.05) hemispheres were larger in the N-SLE group than in the non-NPSLE group, and the left GP volume was greater in the N-SLE group than in the P-SLE group (P ≤ 0.05) (MANCOVA, post-hoc Bonferroni). The P-SLE group presented with thinning of cortical areas relative to the N-SLE (predominantly in the left parietal and right frontal and parietal regions) (P ≤ 0.05) and non-NPSLE (predominantly in parietal and occipital regions) (P ≤ 0.05) groups, whereas the N-SLE group presented with thickening of cortical areas (mostly right frontal and left parietal regions) relative to the non-NPSLE (P ≤ 0.05) and P-SLE groups.

CONCLUSION

N-SLE patients had greater local volumes and cortical thicknesses than the other two groups, whereas P-SLE patients presented with decreased volumes and cortical thinning. These findings provide evidence of distinct neuroanatomical abnormalities in neurological versus psychiatric manifestations of SLE.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;46:150-158.

Multiple brain calcifications in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus

We describe a rare case of severe neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus with cerebral atrophy and multiple paraventricular, basal ganglia, cortex, cerebral white matter, and cerebellum calcifications detected on cerebral CT. These calcifications are probably secondary to necrosis focus of repeated episodes of vessels inflammation.

Aseptic leptomeningitis in systemic lupus erythematosus. A case report

OBJECTIVE

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with leptomeningeal involvement is a rare condition. We report a case in a 17-year-old woman.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND INTERVENTION

The patient was admitted to hospital with the complaints of vertigo, nausea, vomiting, headache, diplopia, ptosis on the left and weakness of the left leg. A diagnosis of SLE was established, with diffuse leptomeningeal involvement demonstrated by cranial magnetic resonance imaging. When treated with steroids, the clinical problems resolved almost completely.

CONCLUSIONS

Although rare, leptomeningeal involvement can complicate SLE. Cranial magnetic imaging can demonstrate tissue involvement. The condition responds to steroid therapy.

Neurology of systemic autoimmune disorders: a pediatric perspective

Autoimmune disorders can involve patients of any age and organs of any organ system. The central and peripheral nervous systems are frequently among the targets of these diseases. Immune dysfunction often presents in childhood or adolescence. Among the autoimmune disorders that present during childhood and adolescence, systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, and Behcet's disease affect the nervous system with some degree of frequency. Furthermore, although juvenile rheumatoid arthritis only rarely affects the nervous system during childhood, it and its adult-onset counterpart may have profound long-term neurological consequences. Both symptomatic and pathophysiologically aimed therapies are important in the treatment of the nervous system sequelae of systemic autoimmune disorders.

Neurological involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus

The aetiology of neurological involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) still remains largely uncertain, but there are some recent reports of retrovirus activity linked to human and mouse models of SLE. Antiribosomal P antibodies appear specific to SLE and tend to be associated with psychiatric disease, but not exclusively so. The role of antiphospholipid antibodies in the pathogenesis of SLE may not be solely to cause thrombotic events, but also to act directly on neuronal tissue. The importance of another group of antibodies, those against Beta 2 glycoprotein I, a phospholipid binding protein, is now being recognized. Amongst the many neurological manifestations of SLE, cognitive impairment is becoming increasingly recognized and appears not to be simply a response to chronic disease or its treatment. Of the newer imaging techniques applied to SLE, positron emission tomography has proved inconsistent and somewhat disappointing but single photon emission computed tomography in active disease appears more sensitive compared to MRI, although it still remains a nonspecific technique. The treatment of SLE remains disappointing and no controlled trials for neurological disease have been published to date but a number of experimental approaches do offer hope for the future.