Transverse myelitis in systemic lupus erythematosus: A case report and systematic literature review

Acute transverse myelitis (TM) is a rare complication secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that can cause patients' extensive and severe neuropsychiatric disorders. Due to the rarity of the onset of acute TM, there is still no standard treatment protocol. This study was to summarize the clinical features of SLE-TM through a case report and systematic review.

We report a case of acute TM with the initial symptoms of headache and fever on admission to hospital, with lesions in medulla oblongata, cervical medulla, and thoracic medulla. Furthermore, all cases of SLE combined with acute TM from January 1975 to February 2022 were concluded and reviewed to compare the disease's current treatment strategies and prognosis.

Patients with SLE-TM are mainly female (97.65%), with an average age of 36.89, a TM incidence of 24.51% and a longitudinal myelitis (LM) incidence of 67.76%. In addition, 68.63% of patients present an increased albumin, and only 16.50% of patients could recover. 32.35% of patients showed positive anti-cardiolipin antibody. Moreover, the patients who could recover are generally younger than those in the improved and paraparesis groups. After classifying the statistical results twice according to magnetic resonance imaging results and prognosis respectively, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in LM group was significantly higher than that in the other two groups. The positive rate of anti-DNA and anti-cardiolipin antibody (ANCL) in TM group was significantly higher than that of the other groups. According to the prognostic grouping, ESR in the recovery group was significantly higher than those in the other two groups. The positive ANCL in the poor prognosis group was slightly higher than that in the other two groups.

We offer a novel insight for this rare disease and hope to bring some inspiration the basic research for SLE-TM.