Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune, nflammatory, chronic disorder characterized by multiorgan involvement including the nervous system. The neurologic manifestations of SLE vary in clinical signs and clinical course.
We recently reviewed medical records of 198 patients with SLE who had been admitted to Severance hospital between 1980 and 1990 to see neurological features with the relationship of non-neurlolgical features of SLE and prognosis. Among 198 cases
with
SLE sixty-seven patients (33.8%) had significant neurologc and/or psychitric manifestations during the course of their disease. CNS lupus was found in 48 cases and symptoms were seizure, mental deterioration, psychiatric manifestations and focal
neurologic deficit in decreasing order fo frequency. Myelopathy was noted in 4, peripheral neuropathy in 5. And nine patients developed myopathy. Eight had typical meningitis; four of these patients had aseptic menmgitis, three had tuberculous
meningitis, and one had bacterial meningitis. In half of the patients with CNS lupus, the neurologic symptoms occurred during the first one year of their illness. Other major organs such as the kidney, heart, lung, skin and joints were more
commonly
affected in CNS lupus. The prognosis of CNS lupus is relatively poor, especially in patients with seizure which is followed by altered mentallty.
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