Rapid-Onset Weakness and Numbness in a Patient With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

A 33-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus, diagnosed 2 years prior and treated with hydroxychloroquine, sought care for a 4-week history of pain and paresthesias in her low back and lower extremities. She described a bandlike sensation of numbness starting in her midback which descended to both legs. Her symptoms progressed to constipation and inability to urinate adequately. She reported difficulty with ambulation. Over the course of 1 week of hospitalization, urinary and fecal incontinence developed. On examination, she was alert and appropriately oriented. She had a malar rash and swelling of the metacarpophalangeal joints consistent with bilateral hand synovitis. Neurologic examination indicated hyperreflexia with brisk patellar and Achilles tendon reflexes bilaterally. She had trace motor weakness of the hip flexors, quadriceps, and hamstrings. She had loss of pinprick and temperature sensation in the lower extremities, extending beyond the saddle area to the T12 dermatome. Vibration perception and proprioception were preserved. She had a positive Babinski sign in the left foot. Her cerebellar examination showed slowing of rapid alternating movements in the left hand. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbosacral spine indicated subtle T2 signal change of the intramedullary conus and enhancement of the cauda equina nerve roots. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed an increased protein concentration. Two white blood cells/µL were found in the cerebrospinal fluid. The serum antinuclear antibody was strongly positive, and the anti–double-stranded DNA antibody level was greater than 1,000 IU/mL. The serum complement levels were low. Lupus anticoagulant, beta-2 glycoprotein antibodies, and antiphospholipid antibodies were increased, at greater than twice the upper limits of normal. Electromyography indicated multiple sacral radiculopathies. The patient was diagnosed with autoimmune myeloradiculitis as a neuropsychiatric manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus). The patient received methylprednisolone followed by prednisone, with a gradual taper. Her hospital course was complicated by the development of deep venous thromboses in the bilateral lower extremities. She was started on heparin and transitioned to warfarin therapy. She started mycophenolate mofetil. Hydroxychloroquine was continued. At a 24-month follow-up visit, the patient remained in neurologic remission. Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus events consist of a heterogeneous array of neurologic and psychiatric disorders including intractable headaches, cognitive dysfunction, psychosis, seizure disorders, transverse myelitis, aseptic meningitis, cranial neuropathies, and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.