Fulminant neurologic manifestation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Abstract

Central nervous system (CNS) presentations of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) may be focal neurological and diffuse psychiatric manifestations. We are reporting a clinical case of severe neurologic manifestations on a 19 year old woman with SLE diagnosed in the Neurology clinic. Severe neurological involvement in SLE is one of the most dreadful complications of the disease, associated with a poor prognosis. The problem remains what is the molecular support of such an important cerebral event. Blood brain barrier endothelium is apparently a target for several pathogenic mechanisms that can account for the CNS manifestations of SLE. The autoimmune response in SLE might affect endothelial cells through several mechanisms and different mediators: endothelial activation/damage may be mediated by C1q.