Chikungunya virus causes fever and severe polyarthritis or arthralgia and is associated with neurologic manifestations that are sometimes challenging to diagnose. We demonstrate intrathecal synthesis of chikungunya antibodies in a patient with a history of acute infection complicated by encephalitis. The specificity of the intracerebral immune response supports early chikungunya-associated encephalitis diagnosis.

Dengue virus (DENV) causes immune-mediated diseases. Neurological involvement represents a severe condition that is rarely observed in DENV-1 infection. Neuromyelitis optica (NMO)/NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are idiopathic immune-mediated demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system. We report a 17-year-old female with oligosymptomatic DENV-1 viremia, diagnosed as NMOSD. Magnetic resonance imaging showed spinal cord and brainstem lesions. Antibody for aquaporin 4 was negative. DENV-1 RNA infection was detected by serial RT-PCR and confirmed by phylogenetic analysis in serum. Although there are some reports of NMO post-dengue infection, there are not any published accounts of NMOSD with coexistent and persistent DENV-1 infection.

Objective: To investigate cognitive deficits in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (PSS). Method: Eighteen patients with PSS, aged between 25 and 61 years, were subjected to a short neuropsychological battery and compared with 18 patients with multiple sclerosis and 18 healthy controls. Results: The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the clinical groups had significantly worse performance than the control group on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test 3; (F 2,53 =3.500, p=0.038) and 7 (F 2,53 =5.068, p=0.010). The clinical groups had elevated levels of depression on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); (p=0.003). The analysis of the data from the Trail Making Test B-A revealed a significant difference between the clinical and control groups (p=0.023). The analysis of covariance with BDI score as a covariate, did not change the outcome. Conclusion: Our study revealed cognitive deficits in patients with PSS detectable by a short neuropsychological battery.Keywords: neuropsychological evaluation; Sjögren's syndrome, cognitive impairment, neuropsychology. Primary Sjögren's syndrome (PSS) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by infiltration of exocrine glands. It occurs without an association with other connective tissue diseases and affects mainly salivary and lachrymal glands, causing xerostomy and keratoconjunctivitis sicca 1,2 . It often afflicts middle-age women, with an estimated prevalence of 2% in the adult population 3 . Moreover, PSS can be associated with impairments of the nervous system. In the central nervous system (CNS), the focal and nonfocal involvement of the brain and spinal cord has been described, resulting in a wide spectrum of neurological, psychiatric, and cognitive symptoms 4 .Cognitive impairments in patients with PSS were reported by Malinow 5 and later confirmed by other studies 6,7 . In Brazil, we have not found any case-series studies that have investigated cognitive impairments in PSS. We found one case report 8 .The results from other countries suggest that patients with PSS display cognitive impairments in attention, memory,

The relationship between RA and asthma has been yielding conflicting results, with most recent studies showing a possible positive association. The study aims at the outcomes of adult patients hospitalized for asthma exacerbation in those with and without RA. We used data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the period of 2012-2014. ICD 9 code was used to identify the diagnosis. Our primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Our secondary outcome was total asthma exacerbation hospitalizations, length of stay, and total hospital charges. Compared to those without RA, RA was associated with increased hospitalizations for asthma exacerbation (unadjusted OR 1.29, p < 0.001; adjusted OR 1.06, p = 0.002), more respiratory and systemic comorbidities, increased in-hospital mortality (unadjusted OR 1.89, p = 0.001; adjusted OR 1.60, p = 0.020), length of stay (4.5 vs 3.8; unadjusted p < 0.001, adjusted p < 0.001), and total hospital charges (30,149 vs 26,247; unadjusted p < 0.001, adjusted p = 0.048). Our study was the first to demonstrate that RA is associated with increased in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and cost using a national inpatient database. We hypothesize that in asthmatic patients with concurrent RA, their asthma may represent a distinctive subgroup that is more severe and carries a poorer prognosis, which deserves more attention and future investigation.

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Background. Rowell’s syndrome is comprised of the presentation of erythema multiforme- (EM-) like lesions in association with lupus erythematosus (LE), along with serologies of speckled antinuclear antibodies (ANAs), positive rheumatoid factor (RF), positive anti-La/anti-Ro, and the clinical finding of chilblains. As per the redefined criteria by Zeitouni et al., three major criteria in addition to at least 1 minor criterion are necessary for diagnosis. Case Presentation. A 20-year-old male presented with a one-week history of worsening nonpruritic erythematous maculopapular skin rash (resembling EM) which appeared on the face and subsequently spread to the trunk, arms, legs, palms, and soles. There was no mucosal involvement. At the onset of rash, the patient reported headaches, associated with photosensitivity and intermittent fevers. Workup for viral meningitis yielded negative results. Laboratory investigation revealed mild anemia, elevated inflammatory markers, a positive ANA with speckled pattern, a positive anti-Ro/SSA, anti-La/SSB antibodies, and a positive rheumatoid factor (RF). Lupus anticoagulant antibody was positive along with a low-positive anticardiolipin IgM antibody and a negative beta-2 glycoprotein antibody. Anti-dsDNA, anti-Smith, anti-Jo-1, anti-centromere, and anti-Scl-70 antibodies were negative. Hepatitis serologies, herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, mycoplasma, Epstein–Barr virus, HIV, and parvovirus B19 were negative. Left arm skin biopsy demonstrated vacuolar interface dermatitis and positive colloidal iron stain suggestive of dermal mucin deposition, favoring the diagnosis of cutaneous collagen vascular disease. Cutaneous lesions improved with administration of oral prednisolone. Conclusion. Rowell’s syndrome should be considered in patients who present with cutaneous LE and lesions resembling EM. Further serological markers should be pursued in the absence of obvious EM-precipitating factors.