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- Cagnoli, Patricia C, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in Regional Brain Morphology in Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Rheumatology. - : The Journal of Rheumatology. - 0315-162X .- 1499-2752. ; 39:5, s. 959-967
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE) is a severe and potentially life-threatening condition, reported to occur in 25%-70% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Brain imaging, especially magnetic resonance imaging, is frequently used to diagnose or exclude overt cerebral pathologies such as edema, hemorrhage, and central thrombosis. More advanced imaging techniques have been applied to demonstrate subtle changes in regional cerebral blood flow and brain structure. We investigated changes in regional gray-matter (GM) volume in SLE patients without neurological manifestations and NPSLE patients at an acute stage of the disease. METHODS: Using high-resolution structural images and voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we investigated regional GM volume in 20 NPSLE patients (within 2 weeks of the acute manifestation), 18 SLE patients without neurologic and/or psychiatric manifestations, and 18 healthy controls. RESULTS: VBM analyses revealed several regions of GM atrophy in various parts of the brain in NPSLE and SLE patients. GM atrophy was seen in both groups in the temporal and parietal lobes and was most pronounced in the posterior thalamus bilaterally. Both groups showed an increase in regional GM volume in the posterior parahippocampal gyrus. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that changes in regional brain morphology are present in acute NPSLE, but also in SLE (as compared to controls), which might be indicative of a subclinical neurodegenerative process. Further research is needed to investigate whether specific neuropsychiatric symptoms are related to these changes.
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2. |
- Wang, Page I., et al.
(författare)
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Perfusion-weighted MR Imaging in Cerebral Lupus Erythematosus
- 2012
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Ingår i: Academic Radiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1878-4046 .- 1076-6332. ; 19:8, s. 965-970
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rationale and Objective: Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is a diagnostically challenging, severe, and life-threatening condition, which is currently lacking a "gold standard." Our aim with this study is to look for magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion differences in NPSLE, SLE, and healthy control (HC) patients and correlate our findings with clinical parameters. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four NPSLE patients, 21 SLE patients, and 21 HC underwent dynamic susceptibility contrast enhanced MR perfusion using a 3-T scanner. Nine prospectively selected intracranial regions of interest were placed in white and gray matter and the cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and mean transit time (MU) values were calculated. Subjects underwent clinical evaluation with SLEDAI and serum antibodies. Results: The SLE patients had higher CBF and CBV compared to the HC overall (P =.01) and in specific areas (P =.03-.048). SLE patients with signs of active disease (elevated SLEDAI and anti-double-stranded DNA) had significantly elevated CBV, CBF, and MU in the posterior cingulate gyrus (P =.01-.02). No significant difference was seen in the magnetic resonance perfusion measurements of NPSLE patients compared to SLE and HC, although the NPSLE patients also showed higher CBV variability compared to the SLE (P =.0004) and HC cohort (P <.0001). Conclusion: SLE patients have increased CBV and CBF compared to healthy controls. The SLE patients with clinical markers for active disease have elevated CBV, CBF, and MU in the posterior cingulate gyrus. NPSLE patients show increased variability in perfusion measurements, which may explain why susceptibility contrast enhanced MRI has not yet provided a specific target for NPSLE.
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3. |
- Cagnoli, Patricia, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced Insular Glutamine and N-Acetylaspartate in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Single-Voxel H-1-MR Spectroscopy Study
- 2013
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Ingår i: Academic Radiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1878-4046 .- 1076-6332. ; 20:10, s. 1286-1296
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rationale and Objectives: To investigate for differences in metabolic concentrations and ratios between patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) without (group SLE) and those with neurological symptoms (group NPSLE) compared to a healthy control (group HC) in three normal-appearing brain regions: the frontal white matter, right insula (RI), and occipital gray matter and whether changes in any of the metabolites or metabolic ratios are correlated to disease activity and other clinical parameters. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients with SLE (18 women and 2 men, age range 23.4-64.6 years, mean age 43.9 years), 23 NPSLE patients (23 women, age range 23.7-69.8 years, mean age 42.4 years), and 21 HC (19 women and 2 men, age range 21.0-65.7 years, mean age 43.4 years) were included. All subjects had conventional brain magnetic resonance imaging and H-1 single-voxel spectroscopy, clinical assessment, and laboratory testing. Results: NPSLE patients had significantly reduced N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine compared to HC (P = .02) and SLE patients (P = .01) in the RI. Lower glutamine/creatine levels were also detected in RI in both patient groups and in frontal white matter in NPSLE patients compared to HC (P = .01, P = .02). NAA/Cr ratio in the RI was significantly negatively correlated with the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (r = -0.41; P = .008), and patients with active SLE symptoms also had a trend toward lower NAA/creatine ratios (1.02 vs 1.12; P = .07). Conclusions: The present data support previous findings of abnormal metabolic changes in normal-appearing regions in the brain of both SLE and NPSLE patients and raise the possibility that especially NAA, glutamine, and glutamate may be additional biomarkers for cerebral disease activity in SLE patients as these early metabolic changes occur in the brain of SLE patients before neurologic and imaging manifestations become apparent.
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4. |
- Shastri, Ravi K., et al.
(författare)
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MR Diffusion Tractography to Identify and Characterize Microstructural White Matter Tract Changes in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients
- 2016
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Ingår i: Academic Radiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1076-6332. ; 23:11, s. 1431-1440
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a predominantly female autoimmune disease that can affect the central nervous system. Neuropsychiatric symptoms are found in 25–70% of SLE patients. Using diffusion tensor imaging, various studies have reported changes in white matter integrity in SLE patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSLE patients). The purpose of this study was to investigate if changes can be detected in the individual white matter tracts in SLE patients regardless if neuropsychiatric symptoms are present or not. Materials and Methods Magnetic resonance diffusion tractography in several individual white matter tracts that are involved in language and memory tasks, including tracts to cortical association areas, was applied in 21 patients with NPSLE (mean age: 40.7 ± 12.8 years; range: 22–67 years), 18 patients with non-neurologic systemic lupus erythematosus (non-NPSLE) (mean age: 40.6 ± 12 years; range: 22–67 years), and 20 healthy control (HC) individuals (mean age: 40.64 ± 12.7 years; range: 19–60 years). Additional patients were evaluated; however, because of the inability to complete the scans required, they were excluded from the study. The fractional anisotropy of individual fiber tracts was measured and correlated with cognitive function and lupus disease severity index (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index [SLEDAI]) to assess predictability and diagnostic value of these measures for NPSLE. Results Analyses of variance of the tractography data from the analysis of 21 tracts revealed decreased fractional anisotropy in uncinate fasciculus in the NPSLE patients when compared to non-NPSLE lupus patients and HC individuals (P = 0.002). Non-NPSLE patients also demonstrated decreased fractional anisotropy when compared to healthy patients (P = 0.03). Decreased fractional anisotropy was also identified in the corpus callosum and corona radiata in NPSLE patients when compared to HC individuals; however, these tracts did not show a significant difference between NPSLE and non-NPSLE patients. Decreased fractional anisotropy in the uncinate fasciculus correlated with low SLEDAI score (R2 = 0.32). Conclusions Diffusion tensor tractography corroborates findings of decreased white matter integrity within the anterior corona radiate as well as the corpus callosum as previously described. Specifically, our study identified changes in the uncinate fasciculus in NPSLE and non-NPSLE patients that correlate with clinical changes (SLEDAI scores) and are independent of conventional T2 lesion burden.
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