Symptoms and Complications of Lupus |
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Overview of Lupus Symptoms |
| Lupus can affect any part of the body, including blood vessels, and internal organs. It can cause cognitive impairments, neuropathies, psychosis, and depression. However it is best known for the butterfly (malar) facial rash that occurs in about half of lupus patients, particularly during flares or after sun exposure. |
| General symptoms, that occur with many other diseases as well, include muscle and joint pain, Raynaud's, fatigue, low-grade fever, mouth and nose ulcers, and loss of appetite. (Also see: Autoimmune Diseases and Overview of Lupus) |
| What are the symptoms of lupus? MedicineNet |
| Test Yourself for Lupus Lupus Foundation of America |
| Seasonal distribution of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) activity and its correlation with climate factors. The disease activity of patients with SLE is affected by seasons and climate factors. Yang J. (UnBound) Rheumatol Int. 2011 Jun 11. |
| Neuropsychiatric (NP) Syndromes Common With Lupus (SLE) and Sjogren's Syndrome (PSS). Headache, cognitive dysfunction and mood disorders are common in both diseases, but otherwise there are distinct differences in NP involvement, with cerebrovascular diseases more prevalent in SLE and neuropathies more common in PSS. This indicates that some NP disease mechanisms are shared while others differ between the two diseases. E. Harboe. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2009;68:1541-1546. (Also see: Sjogren's) |
| People with lupus often have poor sense of smell. New research indicates that the sense of smell is reduced in people with systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, and the degree of the deficit correlates with the severity of lupus. MedilinePlus (Reuters). 05/08/09. |
| Interstitial cystitis (IC) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a 20-year-old woman. Chronic IC is an uncommon manifestation of SLE. (PubMed). Do Socorro Teixeira Moreira Almeida M. Rheumatol Int. 2008 Aug 12. (Also see: Interstitial Cystitis) |
Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) |
| Antiphospholipid Syndrome is also known as Hughes Syndrome. ISN. |
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Atherosclerosis |
| Pattern of Arterial Calcification in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Our study confirms that patients with SLE have significantly higher prevalence and extent of systemic arterial calcification compared with age and sex matched controls. Kai-Hang Yui. JRheum. September 15 2009. |
Brain |
| Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF) in Depressed Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Depressed patients with SLE have CBF reductions in discrete temporal and frontal regions that may account for depressive symptoms. G. Giovacchini. Journal of Rheumatology. July 1 2010. |
| Migraine Is An Independent Risk Factor For Arterial Thrombotic Events (ATE) In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). The presence and the frequency of migraine attacks, but not the duration of migraine was associated with ATE in SLE patients. S. Appenzeller. THU0228. EULAR 2008. (Also see: Vascular Headache) |
Calcinosis |
| Calcinosis cutis universalis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus. Deposition of calcium salts in the skin and subcutaneous tissue occurs in a variety of rheumatic diseases, being most commonly associated with scleroderma, CREST (calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysfunction, sclerodactyly, and telangiectasia), dermatomyositis, and overlap syndromes but is a rare complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). PubMed. Clin Rheumatol. 2005 May 18. (Also see: Calcinosis) |
Cognitive and Affective Deficits |
| Cognitive Dysfunction (CD) in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE): A Controlled Study. We found no differences in cognitive function between patients with SLE and RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis), suggesting that the CD found in some patients with SLE may represent the consequences of a chronic and/or inflammatory disease rather than SLE-related central nervous system damage. The Journal of Rheumatology vol. 38 no. 6 1020-1025. |
| Neuropsychiatric (NP) syndromes in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and primary Sjögren's Syndrome (PSS): A comparative population-based study. Headache, cognitive dysfunction, and mood disorders are common in both diseases, but otherwise there are distinct differences in NP involvement with cerebrovascular disease more prevalent in SLE, and neuropathies more common in PSS. (ARD Online) E. Harboe. Ann Rheum Dis. October 17, 2008. (Also see: Sjögren's) |
Dermatofibromas in Lupus |
| Multiple dermatofibromas in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjögren's syndrome (SS). We report a case of multiple dermatofibromas in a patient with SLE and SS. As these tumors appeared during the remission stage of SLE, they might have been under immunosuppressive conditions caused by immunosuppressing agents rather than collagen disease itself. (SpringerLink) T. Fujisawa. March 11 2010. (Also see: Sjogren's) |
Fatigue in Lupus |
| Women's experience of SLE-related fatigue: a focus group interview study. SLE-related fatigue was portrayed as an overwhelming phenomenon with an unpredictable character, resulting in the feeling that fatigue dominates and controls most situations in life. S. Pettersson. Rheumatology Advance Access. June 23 2010. |
Fibromyalgia and Lupus |
| Number of Fibromyalgia Tender Points Is Associated with Health Status in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. A strong association between the number of FM TP and health status was found in patients with SLE. The number of TP, and not just the presence/absence of FM, is associated with health status in SLE. J Rheumatol. NO. 1 January 2005;32:48-50. (Also see: Fibromyalgia) |
Gastrointestinal |
| Gastrointestinal manifestations. Collagen vascular diseases are known to present with a diverse array of gastrointestinal manifestations. These can be classified as: 1) gastrointestinal damage due to the collagen vascular disease itself; 2) adverse events caused by pharmacotherapies; or 3) gastrointestinal infections following immunosuppression due to corticosteroid (CS) administration. PubMed. Nihon Rinsho Meneki Gakkai Kaishi. 2004 Jun;27(3):145-55. |
| Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis Associated With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Previous studies have described eosinophilic gastroenteritis in patients with scleroderma, polymyositis, or dermatomyositis. This is the first report to our knowledge of an individual with eosinophilic gastroenteritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. PubMed. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2004 Nov;38(10):883-886. |
Heart Disease |
| Pericarditis and pleuritis associated with human parvovirus B19 (PVB19) infection in a systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patient. Steroids may be one of the choices for severe and/or rapidly progressive symptoms of pericarditis and pleuritis due to PVB19 infection. (SpringerLink) M. Seishima. Modern Rheumatology. July 7 2010. (Also see: Causes of Lupus) |
| Predictors of the first cardiovascular event in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus - a prospective cohort study. In addition to age, positive antiphospholipid antibody, biomarkers indicating increased endothelial cell activity/damage, and absence of thrombocytopenia were independent predictors of CVEs in this prospective study. J. Gustafsson. Arthritis Research & Therapy. December 10 2009. |
| The relationship between race, cigarette smoking and carotid intimal medial thickness (mIMT) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Black women, but not White, with SLE with a history of smoking have higher mIMT measurements than those who have never smoked. This is the first report documenting the race-specific effect of smoking on subclinical measures of cardiovascular disease in SLE. (SageJournals) LV Scalzi. Lupus. December 1 2009. |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the risk of cardiovascular disease: Results from the nurses' health study. In this prospective population-based study, we found a statistically significant >2-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease among participants with SLE. (PubMed) AE Hak. Arthritis Rheum. September 29 2009. |
| 25-hydroxyvitamin D and cardiovascular risk factors in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study demonstrates that vitamin D levels are low in women with SLE and significant associations exist with selected cardiovascular risk factors, although most of these associations can be explained by Body Mass Index. (PubMed) PW Wu. Arthritis Rheum. September 29 2009. |
| Ascending aortic aneurysm in a patient with bicuspid aortic valve. The bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and specific systemic autoimmune diseases are associated with cardiovascular manifestation, including aortic aneurysm. I. Foffa. Cardiovascular Ultrasound. July 6 2009. |
| Predictors of cardiovascular damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): data from LUMINA (LXVIII), a multiethnic US cohort. Our data suggest that atherosclerotic cardiovascular damage in SLE is multifactorial; traditional (age, gender) and disease-related factors (CRP levels, SDI at baseline) appear to be important contributors to such an occurrence. Tight control of the inflammatory process must be achieved to prevent it. Guillermo J. Pons-Estel Rheumatology, May 19, 2009. |
| Association between depression and coronary artery calcification (CAC) in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In women with SLE, depression was associated with CAC, thus contributing to cardiovascular disease risk. C. Greco. Rheumatology. March 13, 2009. |
Jaccoud's Arthritis |
| Jaccoud's Arthritis or Jaccoud's arthropathy. A progressive deforming arthropathy of the hands and feet in young adults following recurrent rheumatic fever or systemic lupus erythematosus. Who named it? |
| Erosive or Deforming Arthritis in Systemic Lupus Erithematosus: Jaccoud's Arthritis, Overlap Syndromes or Mixed Connective Tissue Disease? In our experience, erosive or deforming arthritis is rare in SLE patients who do not meet criteria for MCTD or Overlap Syndromes. The so-called Jaccoud's arthritis is the most frequent deforming arthritis among them. E. Becerra. (THU0268) EULAR 2009. (Also see: MCTD) |
Kidney Involvement |
| Access to Care and the Incidence of Endstage Renal Disease (ESRD) Due to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Persons with low socioeconomic status have an increased risk of ESRD due to SLE, possibly because of limited access to care. M. Ward. JRheum. April 15 2010. |
| Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is as efficacious as, but safer than, cyclophosphamide (CYC) in the treatment of proliferative lupus nephritis: a meta-analysis and meta-regression. MMF offers similar efficacy in renal remission and survival as CYC, and appears safer in the treatment of proliferative lupus nephritis. A. Mak. Rheumatology Advance Access. June 3 2009. (Also see: Lupus Treatments) |
| The Relationship Between Renal Activity and Quality of Life (QOL) in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Patients with SLE and active renal disease concurrently experience a slightly poorer QOL than those without renal disease, especially in the physical domains. S. Appenzellar. J. Rheum. April 15, 2009. |
Liver Involvement |
| Liver enzyme abnormalities in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): a focus on toxic hepatitis. Herbal medicines and anti-tuberculosis medications, known to cause toxic hepatitis, can also induce increased liver enzyme levels in SLE patients. However, since most herbal medicines contain a mixture of various products, we could not ascertain what specific ingredient induced the increase in liver enzyme levels. (SpringerLink) H. Minyoung. Rheumatology International. November 3 2009. |
Microstomia (Small Mouth) |
| Microstomia (small mouth) is most often caused by systemic scleroderma. However, it has occasionally been associated with systemic lupus (SLE) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or Sjogren's. ISN. |
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| Microstomia does not necessarily mean scleroderma. Two patients with microstomia in the absence of any features of progressive systemic sclerosis are documented. The first patient had systemic lupus erythematosus and the second rheumatoid arthritis/Sjogren's syndrome with a complicating myositis. S Afr Med J. 1996 Aug;86(8):970-1. |
Miscarriages |
| Pregnancy outcomes in patients with systemic autoimmunity. Results confirm that a strict follow-up and targeted treatments significantly improve pregnancy outcomes in autoimmune patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and isolated autoantibodies in the absence of a definite autoimmune disease. The pregnancy outcome in patients with APS/SLE remains unsatisfactory. Canti V, Autoimmunity. 2011 Aug 30 (Also see: Antiphopholipid Syndrome, and Pregnancy and Autoimmunity) |
| Miscarriages May Be A Symptom Of Greater Health Risk. Autoimmune Diseases, such as lupus or thyroid conditions, are associated with RPL (Recurrent Pregnancy Loss) and infertility. If you have a history of autoimmune disease and unexplained RPL, ask about these potentially appropriate tests: ACA/APA, LAC (Lupus Anti-coagulant). ElitesTV. 07/19/05. (Also see: Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Thyroid Disease) |
Pancreatitis |
| Pancreatitis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE): Frequency and Associated Factors - A Review of the Hopkins Lupus Cohort. Hypertriglyceridemia appears to be a strong associate of pancreatitis in SLE, but antiphospholipid antibodies are not. SLE patients with psychosis and pleurisy are at increased risk for pancreatitis. A. Mikol. JRheum. December 23, 2009. |
Persistent Lupus Myelitis |
| Mycophenolate Mofetil and Intravenous Dexamethasone in the Treatment of Persistent Lupus Myelitis. Subsequent therapy with mycophenolate mofetil and continuous intravenous infusions of dexamethasone resulted in reduction of the lesion's size, disappearance of magnetic resonance imaging enhancement, and a complete recovery. J Rheumatol 2007;34:588-91 (Also see: Rheumatic Treatments) |
Pulmonary Involvement |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) presenting with pulmonary thromboembolism in a 15-year-old girl. The combination of a history of thrombocytopenia and the presence of antinuclear antibodies, even in the absence of any other diagnostic criteria, should always suggest considering SLE as a differential diagnosis, particularly when the course of a clinical manifestation is atypical. (SpringerLink) L. Dell'Era. Rheumatology International. April 8 2010. (Also see: Pediatric Lupus) |
| Prevalence and risk factors for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients with lupus (SLE). The significant association of lupus anti coagulant (LAC) and presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies (APS) in PAH cases suggests that thrombosis may play an important role in PAH with SLE. A. Prabu. Rheumatology Advance Access. August 11 2009. |
Restless Leg Syndrome |
| Systemic Lupus (SLE) and Risk of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). These novel data indicate that RLS is more prevalent in women with SLE than in controls. Although obesity was a significant risk factor for RLS in our sample, the predictive covariates examined were limited. The Journal of Rheumatology vol. 38 no. 5 874-876. (Also see: RLS) |
Thrombocytopenia |
| Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AHA) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): association with thrombocytopenia. Our results corroborate previous data that AHA in SLE increases the risk of thrombocytopenia in individuals with SLE. (SpringerLink) D.S. Domiciano. Clinical Rheumatology. May 15, 2010. |
Thyroid |
| Thyroid Cancer in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE): A Case-Control Study. These data suggest that the prevalence of papillary thyroid cancer in SLE patients is higher than in age-matched controls, particularly in patients with thyroid autoimmunity. A. Antonelli. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. November 11, 2009. |
| Prevalence of Thyroid Dysfunction in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Our patients with SLE had a high prevalence of symptomatic and significantly more subclinical hypothyroidism and positive thyroid autoantibodies. We believe that, since symptoms of SLE and thyroid disease can be similar, that SLE patients should routinely been investigated for autoimmune thyroid disease. S. Appenzeller, MD, PhD. Journal of Clinical Rheumatology: April 2009. Vol 15. Issue 3. pp 117-119. |
Tuberculosis |
| Active and Latent Tuberculosis (TB) in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Living in the United States. This study documents the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics and outcomes of patients with SLE and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) or active TB in an ethnically diverse clinic. A significant number of patients with SLE in a county clinic population in the United States had LTBI or TB. A. Chu, MD. Journal of Clinical Rheumatology. August 2009. |
Vascular Involvement |
| Prevalence, predictors and outcome of vascular damage in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Vascular events (VE) occurred in 26% of SLE patients, predominantly as atherothrombotic disease. VE prevalence increased linearly over time leading to a four-fold risk of mortality. (SageJournals). A. Becker-Merok. Lupus. April 2009. (Also see: Vascular Disease) |
