Peripheral neuropathy in systemic lupus erythematosus in Southern Iran

The prevalence of clinically apparent peripheral neuropathy in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is reported to be between 2-27%. The purpose of this descriptive cross sectional study was to determine the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy (PN) using electrodiangostic criteria in SLE in southern Iran. Subgroup analysis was performed to determine whether PN correlated with disease activity, serum immune markers and duration of disease and clinical findings. The right median, ulnar, peroneal, tibial and sural sensory and motor nerve conduction studies were conducted in 64 SLE cases. PN in our study was defined as any abnormal values in sensory action potential, motor action potential, or conduction velocity affecting 2 or more nerves. Of 64 patients studied, PN was present in 12 patients (18.7%), of which 4 (6.6%) were symptomatic. There was no significant correlation between PN and serum immune markers, and there was a trend showing decreased motor and sensory action potential amplitude in our SLE group compared to the controls. This observation was also seen in active disease group where compared to inactive disease. The amplitude of the action potential and then NCV were more often affected than distal latency, and sensory nerves were more susceptible than motor nerves and regarding the results electrodiognostic study is more sensitive than clinical evidence in detecting PN in SLE.