Evaluation of vasomotor reactivity in systemic lupus erythematosus patients and its comparison with the control group

Neuropsychiatric abnormalities are among the most common manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). They have been proposed to be associated with impaired cerebral blood flow (CBF). Cerebral vasomotor reactivity (VMR) is a hemodynamic parameter effective in the autoregulation of CBF. The aim of the present study is to determine and compare the VMR of women with stable SLE and normal women.

According to the study criteria 60 women in each group entered the study. VMR was evaluated with Transcranial Doppler (TCD) at rest and after one minute of breath holding.

There was no significant difference in the mean of age between two groups (31.76 ± 7.50 years in the SLE group versus 32.43 ± 4.55 years in the control group, P value: 0.64). The mean duration of SLE in the case group was 5.40 ± 3.60 years. The means of the Breath-Holding Index (BHI) in the SLE and control groups were 0.842 ± 0.72% and 0.815 ± 0.26%, respectively, which was not significantly different (P value: 0.82).

This study indicates that the VMR of women with stable SLE is not significantly different from the age- and sex-matched normal population. However, further investigations on patients with longer SLE duration and more neuropsychological abnormality rates are suggested.