OBJECTIVES To develop an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using as substrate a synthetic 22-aminoacid peptide, corresponding to the ribosomal P0, P1 and P2 common epitope. To study the specificity and sensitivity of the method and evaluate the frequency and clinical associations of anti-P antibodies in two groups of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients: (a) unselected SLE patien...

Background: Immunosuppressive treatment of rheumatic diseases may be associated with several opportunistic infections of the brain. The differentiation between primary central nervous system (CNS) involvement and CNS infection may be difficult, leading to delayed diagnosis. Objective: To differentiate between CNS involvement and CNS infection in systemic rheumatic diseases. Methods and results:...

BACKGROUND Immunosuppressive treatment of rheumatic diseases may be associated with several opportunistic infections of the brain. The differentiation between primary central nervous system (CNS) involvement and CNS infection may be difficult, leading to delayed diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To differentiate between CNS involvement and CNS infection in systemic rheumatic diseases. METHODS AND RESULT...

A 22-year-old female patient presented to the Emergency Department of a tertiary care hospital with symptoms of headache and nausea. She has been on a regular follow-up for the preceding three and a half years after being diagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). She had been treated earlier for SLE nephritis in the same institution, and had two relapses of nephrotic syndrome in the last...

Severe lupus often includes psychiatric and neurological sequelae, although the cellular contributors to CNS disease remain poorly defined. Using intravascular staining to discriminate tissue-localized from blood-borne cells, we find substantial accumulation of CD8+ T cells relative to other lymphocytes in brain tissue, which correlates with lupus disease and limited neuropathology. This is in ...

Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus, GBS) usually colonizes the gastrointestinal and lower genital tracts of asymptomatic hosts, yet the incidence of invasive disease is on the rise . We describe a case of an 18 year old woman, recently diagnosed with lupus, who reported a spontaneous abortion six weeks prior to her hospitalization.  She presented with fever, altered mental status, ...

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology, which affects multiple organ systems including the central nervous system (CNS). Though not common, childhood onset SLE is a known and established entity. Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in childhood onset SLE. Of these, psychosis and behavioural symptoms are relatively rare, and there is no consensu...

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can experience acute neurological events such as seizures, cerebrovascular accidents, and delirium, psychiatric conditions including depression, anxiety, and psychosis, as well as memory loss and general cognitive decline. Neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE) occurs in between 30 and 40% of SLE patients, can constitute the initial patient presentation, a...

Chronic aseptic meningitis is a rare manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. It may occur early in the course of the disease and sometimes may be the initial symptom. We report a patient with chronic aseptic meningitis associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. Magnetic resonance imaging showed several ischemic lesions and an appearance which was compatible with chronic inflammation o...

BACKGROUND The study determined (i) whether or not quartan malaria nephropathy (QMN) is still a major cause of childhood nephrotic syndrome (CNS) in Nigeria, (ii) secondary causes other than QMN and their associated glomerular pathology and (iii) renal and patient outcome. METHODS The study was a prospective non-randomized study of consecutive cases of secondary CNS. Patients with idiopathic ...