title: Peripheral neuropathy in systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: We studied 33 consecutive patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) for neuropathy by employing the Neuropathy Symptom Score (NSS), Neurological Disability Score (NDS), EMG and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) studies, and determinations of vibration thresholds (VT). Polyneuropathy defined as NCV abnormalities of two or more nerves occurred in seven patients (21%). Neuropathic symptoms showed a poor correlation with NCV and VT, while clinical neuropathic signs, VT, and NCV correlated with each other in most instances. When reporting frequencies of neuropathy in SLE, NCV studies should be used as a basis. NSS, NDS, and VT give additional quantifiable information and can be useful in the follow-up of patients and for evaluating the response to therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Omdal
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Henriksen
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Mellgren
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Husby
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time