Table 5.
Baseline characteristics of deceased and alive patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms attributed to SLE (major NPSLE).
| Parameters | Deceased patients (n = 13) | Surviving patients (n = 136) |
|---|---|---|
| Gender (n (female, %)) | 12 (92) | 118 (87) |
| Age (median, range) | 43.8 (24.3–72.2) | 42.0 (13.6–72.2) |
| Follow-up time (median, range) | 4.1 (0.5–8.6) | 6.2 (0.4–12.0) |
| SLE duration (median, range) | 6.3 (0.1–29.5) | 4.2 (0.0–42.1) |
| Antiphospholipid syndrome (n, %) | 6 (46) | 43 (32) |
| SLEDAI-2K (median, range) | 8 (2–24) | 5 (0–34) |
| SDI (median, range) | 1 (0–5) | 1 (0–11) |
| NPSLE phenotype (n, %) | ||
| Inflammatory | 4 (31) | 44 (32) |
| Ischemic | 5 (39) | 52 (38) |
| Combined | 4 (31) | 40 (29) |
| NPSLE syndrome (n, %) | ||
| Aseptic meningitis | 0 (0) | 5 (4) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 8 (62) | 77 (57) |
| Demyelinating syndrome | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Headache | 0 (0) | 10 (7) |
| Movement disorder (chorea) | 1 (8) | 4 (3) |
| Myelopathy | 0 (0) | 13 (10) |
| Seizure disorders | 0 (0) | 15 (11) |
| Acute confusional state | 0 (0) | 7 (5) |
| Anxiety disorder | 0 (0) | 1 (1) |
| Cognitive dysfunction | 4 (31) | 45 (33) |
| Mood disorder | 2 (15) | 12 (9) |
| Psychosis | 2 (15) | 6 (4) |
| AIDPa | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Autonomic disorder | 0 (0) | 1 (1) |
| Mononeuropathy | 0 (0) | 1 (1) |
| Myasthenia gravis | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Neuropathy, cranial | 1 (8) | 6 (4) |
| Plexopathy | 0 (0) | 1 (1) |
| Polyneuropathy | 1 (8) | 6 (4) |
| Other | 3 (23)a | 25 (18) |
aOther NP symptoms in deceased major NPSLE patients: cerebral vasculitis (n = 2), mononeuritis multiplex (n = 1).AIDP: acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy; NPSLE: neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus; SDI: SLICC damage index; SLE: systemic lupus erythematosus; SLEDAI-2K: systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index 2000.