BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To determine factors associated with ischemic stroke and stroke severity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. METHODS Between 1992 and January 2005, 238 consecutive systemic lupus erythematosus patients with no history of stroke were followed-up longitudinally at the Maryland Lupus Clinic. Patients were monitored quarterly for a mean of 8 years after their sys...

  Thymoma is a term that should be restricted to neoplasms of thymic epithelial cells, irrespective of the presence or the number of lymphocytes. The usual location of thymoma is the antrosuperior mediastinum; however, this tumor can also occur in other mediastinal compartments, in the neck, within the thyroid gland, in the pericardial cavity, the pulmonary hilum, within the lung parenchyma, o...

Immune response to ultraviolet radiation-modified skin antigens has been suggested as a pathomechanism of skin lesions in discoid lupus erythematosus and polymorphous light eruption. In order to elucidate the role of T-lymphocyte subsets in this response, we studied the distribution of CD45RO+, CD45RA+ and CD31+ cells and the endothelial expression of adhesion molecules E-selectin/P-selectin, i...

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have a poor prognosis of pregnancy, since it is associated with significant maternal and fetal morbidity, including spontaneous miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, fetal death and pre-term delivery. We report a case with successful pregnancy in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and hypertension. A 39-year-old nullipar...

Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disorder affecting multiple organ systems. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus exhibit a bimodal pattern of mortality, with those who have had the disease for 5 to 10 years being at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly myocardial infarction. Elevated levels of conventional cardiovascular risk factors promote vascular damage ...

Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus is one of the rare autoantibody mediated skin manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) demonstrating subepidermal blistering with neutrophilic infiltrate histologically. We present a case of a 40-year-old Hispanic female who presented with a several months' history of multiple blistering pruritic skin lesions involving the face and trunk, a photos...

Lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease that affects primarily women and whose cause is unknown. The diagnosis arises from a patient that may show singular signs or signs of a multisystem disease; there is a presence of autoantibodies, and other diseases with similar properties are ruled out. Two main forms of the disease exist; the discoid and the disseminated forms. Hippocrates was the f...

Central nervous system (CNS) involvement is a common and important complication in systemic lupus erythematosus. The mechanisms for CNS involvement are poorly understood and reliable diagnostic procedures are lacking. Pairs of serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from 17 patients with clinical and serological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus were analysed. All 11 patients...

Vesico-bullous subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus is an uncommon and severe presentation. The authors report an exuberant case of vesico-bullous subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus successfully treated with dapsone and hydroxychloroquine.

angioedema secondary to c1 inhibitor deficiency has been rarely reported to be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. a genetic defect of c1 inhibitor produces hereditary angioedema, which is usually presented with cutaneous painless edema, but edema of the genital area, gastrointestinal and laryngeal tracts have also been reported. in lupus patients, angioedema may be the result of an a...