title: Abnormalities of magnetic resonance imaging of the central nervous system in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus correlate with disease severity.
abstract: Forty randomly selected patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were studied by clinical and serologic parameters and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Abnormal MRI was found in 15/40 patients (37.5%): all 15 cases showed multiple widespread small-sized areas of increased signal in T2 in the white matter; in one of these patients MRI also displayed a large area with a reduced signal in T1 and an increased signal in T2 involving both the white and the gray matter. Among the 15 patients with abnormal MRI, only 7 had neuropsychiatric symptoms. The presence of MRI changes was highest in patients with organic type symptoms and was associated to the highest disease severity scores. A long-term follow up of asymptomatic patients would be useful to establish whether the application of MRI is appropriate for the assessment of CNS involvement in SLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cauli
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montaldo
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Peltz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nurchis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sanna
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garau
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pala
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Passiu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mathieu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index