Prevalence and Prognosis of Cerebrovascular Accidents and its Subtypes Among Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Isfahan, Iran: A Hospital Clinic-based Study

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and prognosis of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and its subtypes among Iranian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS In a cross-sectional study, medical records of 575 SLE patients were reviewed. The patients developing CVA in their course of disease were extracted. In these patients, data about demographic features, lupus anti bodies, duration of the disease until CVA, CVA manifestation(s) and follow-up duration were gathered. In the next step, patients with any kinds of CVA were summoned to Neurology clinic to identify the grade of disability in each patient with CVA. RESULTS We identified 38 patients with CVA of which 6 (15.8%) were men and 32 (84.2%) were women. The most common subtype of CVA was small vessels thrombosis (21.05%) among the study patients and hemi paresis was the most prevalent initial presentation (39.47%). In 11 (28.9%) patients, SLE was initiated with CVA and in 3 (7.9%) patients CVA had happened in the 1(st) year of SLE. Anti-phospholipid antibodies (APLA) were positive in 29 (76.3%) patients. Mean modified Rankin Scale in patient with positive and negative serology for APLA was 0.93 ± 1.11 and 0.22 ± 0.66 respectively (P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that 6.6% of Iranian SLE patients have CVA during their course of the disease. Small vessels thrombosis is the most common CVA subtype and hemi paresis is the most prevalent initial presentation. Moreover, we showed that the prognosis of CVA in Iranian SLE patients is not unfavorable.