Case Review: Lupus Patient with Acute Disseminating Encephalomyelitis

January 19, 2018 • By Teresa Sosenko, MD, Anca Musetescu, MD, PhD, Neha Gandhi, MD, Scott Friedstrom, MD, & Diana Girnita, MD, PhD

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune-mediated rheumatic disease characterized by multisystem involvement that can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a rare, fulminant, autoimmune-mediated, demyelinating disease involving the white matter of the central nervous system (CNS), and is considered a manifestation of neuropsychiatric lupus.

Few reported cases involve SLE and ADEM occurring simultaneously. Some of these cases were preceded by an infection, but others had no identifiable cause. One 2015 study suggests SLE can present as ADEM, because both occur due to abnormal immune regulation.1 ADEM with lupus rarely appears in the literature, and ADEM as the initial presentation is even rarer.

We present one such case below.

http://www.the-rheumatologist.org/article/case-review-lupus-patient-acute-disseminating-encephalomyelitis/