Cognitive and physical measures in rehabilitation of patients with lupus

During the past 2 years, four papers describing new research studies and three papers reviewing the literature were published. These seven papers address longstanding issues, including 1) the presence or absence of cognitive impairment in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 2) the prevalence of such impairment within SLE and related conditions (eg, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, active vs inactive SLE), 3) the specific pattern of cognitive functions impaired and the possibility of a "lupus-specific" pattern, 4) the etiopathogenesis of cognitive impairments and the potential role of confounding factors such as corticosteroid use or depression, and 5) longitudinal studies examining the course of SLE-related cognitive impairment. The review period also includes two studies using both static and functional neuroimaging to identify the potential relation between neuroanatomic or neurophysiologic abnormalities and cognitive impairment in patients with SLE. No papers specific to Sjögren's syndrome were identified.