objective systemic lupus erythematosus (sle), an autoimmune systemic disease with unknown etiology, affects virtually every part of the body; involvement of the central nervous system (cns) is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus (sle) patients and is the least understood aspect of the disease. neutropenia is very uncommon in childhood lupus. true n...

After implantation oftwo metal plates a 24 year old woman developed fever of unknown origin and successively more symptoms of an ANA-negative systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). These symptoms resolved after removal of the plates and recurrred during patch testing of the metal components, which showed a reaction to molybdenum. A lymphocyte transformation test indicated a delayedtype hypersensit...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a typical autoimmune disease that's characterized by various autoantibodies to nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. The presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in serum is generally considered a decisive diagnostic sign of SLE. However, a small subset of SLE patients who had the typical clinical features of SLE was reported to show persistently negative ANA t...

As Brittenham’ has reviewed in detail, the use of the oral iron chelator LI has been associated with significant clinical and animal toxicity. One of the more controversial issues surrounding the human use of LI has been the possible development of autoimmune phenomena as manifested by development of autoantibodies such as antinuclear antibodies (ANA). The Canadian group investigating LI did no...

The antinuclear antibodies (ANA) test has been a cornerstone of the evaluation of connective tissue disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of the ANA test in pleural or pericardial effusions of unknown causes. Over a 3-yr period, a total of 126 pleural fluid and 30 pericardial fluid samples were analysed. ANA tests were performed using a commercially available ki...

OBJECTIVE Antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) are detected in ∼18% of females, yet autoimmune disease develops in only 5-8%. Immunologic differences between ANA-positive healthy individuals and patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may elucidate the regulatory mechanisms by which ANA-positive individuals avoid transition to clinical autoimmune disease. METHODS Healthy individuals (n = 79...

A 26-year-old Indian lady was admitted for lower abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and cough. The initial diagnosis was that of peritonitis secondary to ruptured or perforated viscus with lobar pneumonia. On laparotomy, she was found to have necrotizing or Kikuchi's lymphadenitis of the abdominal lymph nodes. The initial two antinuclear antibody (ANA) results came back negative. She wa...

This case describes a patient with pericardial effusion as a phenomenon of the drug-induced lupus erythematosus (DILE) syndrome due to hydralazine. The relevance of this case report lies in the fact that although hydralazine has been a known causative agent of DILE, its presentation may involve a negative anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) study. Pericardial effusion is a documented adverse effect as ...

An 8.5-year-old girl was referred with swelling of both knees lasting for two years. ANA was found as negative. She was diagnosed as oligoarticular JIA. After two years of follow-up, thrombocytopenia was detected during routine screening. Her ANA and anti ds-DNA antibodies also became positive, with low levels of C3 and C4. She was diagnosed as Juvenile SLE, meeting the criteria cytopenia, posi...