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Case report
Cerebellar ataxia as a primary manifestation of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus
  1. Marie Charmaine C Sy1,
  2. Nikolai Gil D Reyes1,
  3. Geraldine T Zamora2 and
  4. Marc Laurence L Fernandez1
  1. 1Department of Neurosciences, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines
  2. 2Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines
  1. Correspondence to Dr Marie Charmaine C Sy; mcsy2{at}up.edu.ph

Abstract

Acute cerebellar ataxia is a rare primary manifestation of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE). We report a case of a 22-year-old woman who presented with gait instability, behavioural changes and new-onset seizures. The tempo of disease progression was explained by an autoimmune cause, eventually fulfilling the criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus. The patient’s neurological symptoms improved markedly following administration of steroids and immunomodulators. A review of literature on cerebellar ataxia in NPSLE and a summary of all reported cases to date are also presented.

  • neurology
  • epilepsy and seizures
  • brain stem / cerebellum
  • rheumatology
  • systemic lupus erythematosus

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-236825

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @charmysy, @g_racaza

    • Contributors MCCS conceived the idea and wrote the initial drafts and revisions of the manuscript. NGDR, GTZ and MLLF made substantial contributions to the revisions of the manuscript for intellectual content.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.