We present a 12-year-old girl with systemic lupus erythematosus and associated antiphospholipid syndrome who developed an unusual manifestation of purpura fulminans in an accelerated fashion. The patient improved after prompt treatment with anticoagulants, aggressive immunosuppressive drugs and plasmapheresis. This is the first pediatric case of purpura fulminans due to secondary antiphospholip...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the frequency of human leukocyte antigens class II-DR in children and adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus. PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty-fiveBrazilian systemic lupus erythematosus children and adolescents and 308 healthy individuals were studied. Gender, race, and age of onset of systemic lupus erythematosus were recorded. The human leukocyte antigens typing of cla...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an auto-immune disease in which autoantibodies destroy healthy body tissues. This means that the immune system (which normally protects the body from infections) mistakenly attacks itself. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus produce numerous antibodies against self-antigens in several organs, such as skin, joints and kidneys. The clinical features in...

The complement system is of great importance in systemic lupus erythematosus. Complete genetically determined deficiencies are with few exceptions reported for the various complement proteins, and most of the deficiency states are rare. Deficiencies of the factors in the classical pathway are also associated with development SLE and SLE-like disorders. Most of the patients with lupus present sk...

lupus erythematosus. Br J Haematol 2003;122:172. 7. Kang I, Park SH. Infectious complications in SLE after immunosuppressive therapies. Curr Opin Rheumatol 2003;5:528–34. 8. Pettersson T, Julkunen H. Asplenia in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid antibodies. J Rheumatol 1992;19:1159. 9. Obarski TP, Stoller JK, Weinstein C, Hayden S. Splenic infarction. A new thromb...

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OBJECTIVE To provide an up-to-date review of the etiology, epidemiology, clinical features, diagnostic findings, and treatment options for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). DATA SOURCES A PubMed search of English language articles using a combination of words: elderly, systemic lupus erythematosus*, late onset systemic lupus erythematosus*, etiology, screening, diagnosis, or treatment to id...

We describe a 34 year old woman who presented initially with a progressive pseudobulbar palsy. A delay of five months occurred before a diagnosis of cerebral systemic lupus erythematosus was made. Currently available investigations for cerebral systemic lupus erythematosus are evaluated and the need for an easily performed specific diagnostic test is discussed.