Cognitive Dysfunction and White Matter Abnormalities in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Kozora ◽  
Christopher M. Filley

AbstractBrain abnormalities have been documented by neuropsychological assessment as well as a variety of neuroimaging techniques in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Conventional neuroimaging in patients with neuropsychiatric disease (NPSLE) typically discloses periventricular white matter (WM) hyperintensities, infarcts, hemorrhages, and cerebral atrophy. In SLE patients with none of these findings, sophisticated neuroimaging techniques have recently supported associations between microstructural WM abnormalities and abnormal attention, executive function, and processing speed. This mild cognitive dysfunction in SLE (MCD-SLE), which may result from early myelinopathy, precedes the more severe cognitive dysfunction of NPSLE, related to more obvious WM and neuronal damage. (JINS, 2011, 17, 385–392)

Lupus ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1140-1149 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Cannerfelt ◽  
J Nystedt ◽  
A Jönsen ◽  
J Lätt ◽  
D van Westen ◽  
...  

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of white matter lesions, atrophy of the hippocampus and corpus callosum, and their correlation with cognitive dysfunction (CD), in patients diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Seventy SLE patients and 25 healthy individuals (HIs) were included in the study. To evaluate the different SLE and neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE) definition schemes, patients were grouped both according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) definition, as well as the more stringent ACR-Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics definition. Patients and HIs underwent a 3 Tesla brain MRI and a standardized neuropsychological test. MRI data were evaluated for number and volume of white matter lesions and atrophy of the hippocampus and corpus callosum. Differences between groups and subgroups were evaluated for significance. Number and volume of white matter lesions and atrophy of the hippocampus and corpus callosum were correlated to cognitive dysfunction. Results The total volume of white matter lesions was significantly larger in SLE patients compared to HIs ( p = 0.004). However, no significant differences were seen between the different SLE subgroups. Atrophy of the bilateral hippocampus was significantly more pronounced in patients with NPSLE compared to those with non-NPSLE (right: p = 0.010; left p = 0.023). Significant negative correlations between cognitive test scores on verbal memory and number and volume of white matter lesions were present. Conclusion SLE patients have a significantly larger volume of white matter lesions on MRI compared to HIs and the degree of white matter lesion volume correlates to cognitive dysfunction, specifically to verbal memory. No significant differences in the number or volume of white matter lesions were identified between subgroups of SLE patients regardless of the definition model used.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Inglese ◽  
Minseon Kim ◽  
Gerda M. Steup-Beekman ◽  
Tom W.J. Huizinga ◽  
Mark van Buchem ◽  
...  

AbstractIntroduction/PurposeSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic auto-immune disease with a broad spectrum of clinical presentations, including heterogeneous and uncommon neuropsychiatric (NP) syndromes. Accurate diagnosis of neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE) is challenging due to lack of clinically useful biomarkers. Despite structural brain abnormalities on MRI in NPSLE being a common finding, a robust link between structural abnormalities and NPSLE has not been established, thus their contribution to the distinction between NPSLE patients and patients in which the NP symptoms are not primarily attributed to SLE is limited. Self-supervised contrastive learning algorithms do not require labels, and have been shown to be useful in classification tasks in rare diseases with limited number of datasets. The aim of our study was to apply self-supervised contrastive learning on T1-weighted images acquired from a well-defined cohort of SLE patients to distinguish between SLE patients with NP symptoms due to the disease (NPSLE) or and SLE patients with similar symptoms due to other causes (non-NPSLE).Subjects and Methods163 patients were included. We used 3T MRI T1-weighted images registered to the MNI152 template. The training set comprised 68 non-NPSLE and 34 NPSLE patients. During the training procedure, we applied random geometric transformations (cropping, left-right flipping and rotations) between iterations to enrich our data sets. Our ML pipeline consisted of convolutional base encoder and linear projector. To test the classification task, the projector was removed and one linear layer was measured. We trained the encoder and projector with the Normalized Temperature-scaled Cross Entropy Loss (NT-xent) loss function. We performed a Monte Carlo validation that consisted of 6 repeated random sub-samplings each using a random selection of a small group of samples from each group.ResultsIn the 6 trials described above, between 79% and 83% of the patients were correctly classified as NPSLE or non-NPSLE. For a qualitative evaluation of spatial distribution of the common features found in the NPSLE population, Gradient-weighted Class Activation Maps (Grad-CAM) were examined voxel-wise. Thresholded Grad-CAM maps show areas of common features identified for the NPSLE cohort, with no such communality found for the non-NPSLE group.Discussion/conclusionThe self-supervised contrastive learning model was effective in capturing diagnostic brain MRI features from a limited but well-defined cohort of SLE patients with NP symptoms. The interpretation of the Grad-CAM results is not straightforward, but points to involvement of the lateral and third ventricles, periventricular white matter and basal cisterns. We believe that the common features found in the NPSLE population in this study indicate a combination of tissue loss, local atrophy and to some extent that of periventricular white matter lesions, which are commonly found in NPSLE patients and appear hypointense on T1-weighted images.


Author(s):  
Fahima Hossain ◽  
Mohammad Delwer Hossain Hawlader ◽  
Dipak Kumar Mitra ◽  
Mohammad Hayatun Nabi ◽  
Md. Mujibur Rahman

Abstract Background Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is well known for its varying presentations and poor outcomes, but little is evident about its distribution and characteristics among the Bangladeshi population. This study aimed to assess the pattern and prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in female systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients of Bangladesh. A retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between January and December 2018. One hundred female SLE patients were included in the study purposively. Data were collected on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of diagnosed SLE cases visiting the SLE clinic and indoor medicine department. Neuropsychiatric (NP) syndromes were defined according to the widely accepted American College of Rheumatology (ACR) nomenclature and case definitions. Results A total of 244 NP events were identified in fifty-five patients. Headache was the most frequent symptom (55%), followed by cognitive dysfunction (50%), anxiety (49%), psychosis (43%), seizure (23%), depression (17%), and cerebrovascular disease (ischemic type, 7%). The NP manifestations were more prevalent among urban residents (58.2%), younger patients (41.8%), and patients with graduate-level education (34.5%). Besides, young age at diagnosis (p = 0.038), Raynaud’s phenomenon (p = 0.015), other organ involvement (p < 0.001), and time of NPSLE development (p < 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with the development of these manifestations. Conclusion NP damage is prevalent among Bangladeshi female SLE patients (55%) with headache and cognitive dysfunction being the most common symptoms. Routine screening for neuropsychiatric symptoms among suspected SLE cases and further evaluation with a larger population are warranted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Howaida E. Mansour ◽  
Reem A. Habeeb ◽  
Noran O. El-Azizi ◽  
Heba H. Afeefy ◽  
Marwa A. Nassef ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Neuropsychiatric manifestations are frequently reported in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. This study was done to describe electroencephalographic (EEG) findings in SLE patients with neuropsychiatric manifestation (NPSLE). Results Among 60 SLE patients, there were 50 females (83.3%) and 10 males (16.7%). EEG abnormalities were reported in 12 patients out of 30 (40%) with NPSLE, while all patients with non-NPSLE (n = 30) had no EEG abnormalities; diffuse slowing (20%) was the most common abnormalities, followed by generalized epileptiform activity (13.3%), and lastly temporal epileptiform activity (6.7%). Seizure was the most reported neuropsychiatric disorder in 13 patients (43.3%); 8 of them had abnormal EEG (61.5%). Periventricular white matter lesion (23.3%) followed by infarction (13.3%) were the most common MRI brain findings among 53.3% of NPSLE group. Half of the cases with EEG abnormality had normal brain MRI. SLEDAI score and ACL IgM positivity were higher in the NPSLE group than the non-NPSLE group. EEG is not a sensitive or specific test for detecting NPSLE with sensitivity (37.5%) and specificity (57.1%). Conclusion Not all patients with NPSLE must have abnormal brain MRI or EEG. EEG is a useful assistant tool in the assessment of different manifestations of NPSLE, but it cannot be used as a screening test alone and must be supplemented by neuroimaging studies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily Siok Hoon Lim ◽  
Arlette Lefebvre ◽  
Susanne Benseler ◽  
Earl D. Silverman

Objective.(1) To describe the clinical course and response to treatment; and (2) to evaluate and compare damage accrual of distinct phenotypic subgroups of patients with clinically important psychiatric illness of pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE).Methods.A single-center cohort study of patients with pSLE followed at a pediatric lupus clinic from 1985 to July 2009. Clinical course and response to treatment were studied. Remission was defined by absence of psychiatric/cognitive symptoms while receiving minimal doses of prednisone. Disease activity and damage were measured using SLE Disease Activity Index and SLE Damage Index.Results.Fifty-three children were included: 40 with psychosis and cognitive dysfunction (PSYC group) and 13 with isolated cognitive dysfunction (COG group). All received immunosuppressive treatment. Eighteen of 32 treated with azathioprine required a change to cyclophosphamide for poor response but none on cyclophosphamide required a change. The median times to remission were 72 weeks (PSYC) and 70 weeks (COG). Eight patients (7 PSYC, 1 COG) experienced flare following response/remission. New damage was noted in 50% of children at a median of 11 months: 57% of PSYC group, 31% of COG group. Persistent cognitive dysfunction was seen in 16% of PSYC patients and 15% of COG patients.Conclusion.Most patients responded to immunosuppressive treatment, although median time to remission was > 1 year. Roughly half the patients acquired a new damage item, most of which did not interfere with functional abilities. Fewer than 20% of patients developed neuropsychiatric damage. Both phenotypes of psychiatric pSLE responded equally well to current treatment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-257
Author(s):  
Renan Bazuco Frittoli ◽  
Karina de Oliveira Peliçari ◽  
Bruna Siqueira Bellini ◽  
Roberto Marini ◽  
Paula Teixeira Fernandes ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aep Saepudin ◽  
Paulus Anam Ong ◽  
Syarief Hidayat ◽  
Andri Reza Rahmadi ◽  
Laniyati Hamijoyo

Background: Cognitive dysfunction was found in 55-80% Neuropsychiatry Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (NPSLE) patients. Serious concern from clinicans was needed as its impact to patient’s quality of life. Disease activity is expected to be affecting patient’s cognitive function. Previous studies regarding correlation between disease activity and cognitive dysfunction showed various results. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between disease activity and cognitive function in SLE patients.Methods: This study is an analytical cross-sectional study. Subjects were SLE patients at the rheumatology clinic of Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital Bandung during June-August 2017. Subject’s evaluations included disease activity assessment using SLE disease activity index-2K (SLEDAI-2K) and cognitive function assessment using MoCA-Ina test. Data were analyzed by using Spearman Rank correlation test. Results: Mean age of the subjects was 31 ± 8 years old, most of them were senior high school graduates (65.8 %) and median length of study was 12 years. Subject’s median duration of illness was 44 months. Their MoCA-Ina median score was 25, while SLEDAI-2K median score was 6. Cognitive dysfunctions were found in more than half of subjects (52.63%), which memory domain (78.95%) was most frequently impaired. Most of subjects were patients with active SLE (63.2%). Correlation test showed there was no correlation between SLEDAI-2K score and MoCA-Ina score (rs=0.023, p=0.445).Conclusion: There was no correlation between disease activity (SLEDAI-2K score) and cognitive function (MoCA-Ina score). Keywords: Cognitive dysfunction, MoCA-Ina, Systemic lupus erythematosus, SLEDAI-2K


Neurology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Y. McLaurin ◽  
S. L. Holliday ◽  
P. Williams ◽  
R. L. Brey

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