Cardiac tamponade as an initial manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus in a child

Management of cardiovascular disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

INTRODUCTION

SLE is increasingly recognized as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Premature CAD and several other cardiac manifestations are resulting in significant morbidity and premature death among young and older adults. There is a considerable unmet need for developing specific guidelines toward the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in SLE patients.

AREAS COVERED

The authors describe the prevalence of various cardiovascular manifestations, associated with traditional and lupus-specific risk factors. They summarize the evidence behind various nonpharmacological and pharmacological options such as cardiac medications, antimalarials, anti-inflammatory, and immunosuppressant medications.

EXPERT OPINION

There is considerable literature claiming that the traditional Framingham score used to calculate the risk in the general population would not clearly predict the 10-year risk among SLE patients as they do not include lupus-specific risk factors such as accelerated inflammation, immunometabolic changes, thrombosis, vasospasm, vasculitis, and endothelial dysfunction into account. Identifying potential risk factors among SLE patients and treating hyperlipidemia regardless of their risk scores may be the first step in reducing mortality. Blocking lupus-specific inflammatory pathways by targeting validated biomarkers of pathogenesis has great future potential and more studies are needed on their cardiovascular benefits.

Cardiac tamponade as the initial presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus: a case report and review of the literature

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that can involve any organ system, exhibiting great diversity in presentation. Cardiac tamponade as the initial presentation of childhood onset SLE (cSLE) is rare. We report the case of a 10 year old Afro-Caribbean female who presented with complaints of chest pain, shortness of breath and fever over 4 days. Clinical examination strongly suggested cardiac tamponade which was confirmed by investigations and treated with pericardiocentesis. After a thorough investigation, the underlying diagnosis of SLE was confirmed using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) criteria and high dose corticosteroid therapy initiated. A review of recent studies shows that common initial presentations of cSLE include constitutional symptoms, renal disease, musculoskeletal and cutaneous involvement. In presenting this case and reviewing the literature we emphasize the importance of cSLE as a differential diagnosis when presented with pericarditis in the presence or absence of cardiac tamponade. In these patients early diagnosis and treatment is desired and in this regard we also discuss the sensitivity of the SLICC criteria in cSLE.