Peripheral Neuropathies in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Clinical Features, Disease Associations, and Immunologic Characteristics Evaluated Over a Twenty-Five-Year Study Period

摘要

Peripheral neuropathies cause severe pain, weakness, and psychosocial morbidity (1). In the past decade, many studies of central nervous system (CNS) manifestations associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been conducted (2-5). Such studies have provided valuable insight into the spectrum of CNS manifestations and the association of distinct CNS syndromes with autoantibodies, immunologic markers, and aspects of SLE activity (5-7). In contrast, there have been a limited number of studies of the association of peripheral neuropathies with autoantibody patterns and aspects of SLE activity (8). However, such studies have, importantly, begun to emphasize that peripheral neuropathies in SLE may occur with equal or greater frequency compared to some CNS syndromes (2-5,8), and therefore constitute an important although poorly understood cause of morbidity.