Vnitr Lek 2007, 53(3):242-245

Cognitive dysfunction in patients with systemic lupus erythemathosus with or without antiphospholipid antibodies

Ľ. Cibičková^1,*, T. Soukup¹, E. Čermáková², P. Bradna¹, Z. Hrnčíř¹

¹ II. interní klinika Lékařské fakulty UK a FN Hradec Králové, přednosta prof. MUDr. Jaroslav Malý, CSc.

² Ústav lékařské biofyziky Lékařské fakulty UK Hradec Králové, přednosta doc. Ing. Josef Hanuš, CSc.

Introduciton:
Impairment of cognitive functions is one of the neuropsychiatric symptoms of systemic lupus erythemathosus (SLE), the association of which with secondary antiphospholipid syndrome is often mentioned in the literature on the subject. Ethiology has not yet been fully clarified.

Patients and methods:
The aim of the study was to compare the "mini-mental state examination" (MMSE) outcomes in SLE patients with and without antiphospholipid antibodies (APA).

Results:
Probands producing APA presented with significantly worse results in MMSE when compared to patients without these antibodies. There was no difference between patients with antisphospholipid syndrome and those with APA only.


Discussion and conclusion:
Our study supports the notion that association of SLE with APA (not only with antiphospholipid syndrome) aggravates the deterioration of cognitive functions. MMSE test should not be omitted in the follow-up of SLE patients.

Keywords: systemic lupus erythematosus; antiphospholipid antibodies; cognitive functions; mini-mental state examination

Received: October 23, 2006; Accepted: January 2, 2007; Published: March 1, 2007  Show citation