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Query: UMLS:C0024141 (systemic lupus erythematosus)
 44,322 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We describe 6 cases of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. All were treated with high dose corticosteroids, and all developed the infection within 4 months of beginning new or revised cytotoxic therapy. All patients tested (5 of 6) were negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Those patients who developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia had more severe lymphocytopenia (median 595 vs 833/mm3) and received higher doses of corticosteroids (median prednisone dose = 43 vs 20 mg/day) than other patients with active SLE. A threshold lymphocyte count of 350/mm3 identified 4 of 6 cases but only 1 of 20 controls. Patients with SLE treated with high dose corticosteroids and cytotoxic drugs and with severe lymphocytopenia may be at increased risk for this opportunistic infection.
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PMID:Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus at risk for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. 140 53

The features of lupus have been changing for 30 years. The aim of this study was to determine the main modifications and to search for the possible causes. Lupus epidemiology, the clinical symptoms and the prognostic subsets were investigated. The rising incidence of lupus closely paralleled improvements in diagnostic techniques (LE cell testing, anti-nuclear antibodies) but has since remained stable. The prevalence progressively increased over this time, but this evolution is associated with better detection of benign subsets and improvement in the management of the disease and its complications. More sensitive serological methods have attributed new symptoms to lupus, revealing that some forms are benign. Survival has been improving and infection has become the primary cause of death. Opportunistic infections in lupus are increasing, however the majority of them remain undiagnosed until the autopsy.
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PMID:[Have lupus characteristics changed?]. 219 49

Cryptococcosis is a known opportunistic infection in immunosuppressed hosts. We report our experience of all cases presenting to our Department between December 1975 and September 1988. Eight post-renal transplant patients and three systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients were affected. All were receiving treatment with steroids, in association with either azathioprine or cyclosporin. The diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis was initially based on a positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cryptococcal antigen, by latex agglutination test, and subsequently confirmed by cultures. Common clinical presentations, in descending order of frequency, included headaches, fever, mental confusion, epilepsy and papilloedema. Meningism was not a prominent feature. CT brain scans were obtained in eight patients and one showed a focal lesion and one showed cerebral atrophy. Four patients also had an abnormal chest X-ray (CXR) and one had disseminated cryptococcosis. Amphotericin and 5-fluorocytosine were the mainstay of therapy, although ketoconazole alone was subsequently used in three selected patients with cure. Four early deaths occurred in patients with delayed diagnosis and treatment, usually in association with other severe concurrent infections. We conclude that awareness of cryptococcosis is essential in immunocompromised hosts presenting with headache with, or without, mental confusion or fever.
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PMID:Cryptococcosis in a renal unit. 228 81

Survival in systemic lupus erythamatosus (SLE) continues to improve because of better ancillary care, earlier diagnosis, and earlier treatment. However, infection remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in this disease. Although corticosteroids and immunosuppresives increase the risk of opportunistic infection, the SLE patient is still most at risk from common bacterial pathogens. As the prototypic immune-complex disease, patients with active SLE have low circulating complement as well as a reticuloendothelial system (RES) saturated with immune complexes. It seems intuitive that SLE patients should be most at risk for organisms dependent for their removal on the RES or complement for opsonization or bacteriolysis. The current series presents four patients with SLE and disseminated neisseria infection and brings to 14 the number of patients in the literature with disseminated neisserial infection. They are typically young, female, with renal disease, and either congenital or acquired hypocomplementemia, and may present with all features of a lupus flare. Surprisingly, they are not all on corticosteroids or immunosuppressives and have some features that are unusual for non-SLE patients with these infections. There seems to be an over-representation of Nisseria meningitidis (despite potential reporting bias), and there ironically may be better tolerance with fewer fulminant complications in patients who have complement deficiencies. The best approach for the physician treating SLE is to immunize all SLE patients with available bacterial vaccines to N meningitidis and Streptococcus pneumonia, have a low threshold of suspicion for the diagnosis of disseminated neisserial or other encapsulated bacterial infection in the SLE patient who is sick, and to treat empirically with third generation cephalosporins after appropriate cultures.
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PMID:Increased risk of neisserial infections in systemic lupus erythematosus. 228 42

The incidence, localization, etiology and predisposing factors of infections were evaluated in 96 cases of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (15 males and 81 females) with a mean age of 40 years. Fifty-three patients (55%) had overall 102 infections (incidence 0.17 per year). 31% had urinary tract infections. In these, Escherichia coli was the most common causative organism (56%). 25% had respiratory infections (pneumonia in 14, pulmonary tuberculosis in 8, infections by opportunistic organisms in 4). 17% had skin infections, of which one half were due to Staphylococcus aureus. 16% had bacteremia, due to Staphylococcus spp in 5, to Salmonella spp in 4, and to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 3. There was a higher incidence of infections in patients with active SLE, in those with nephropathy, and in those with previous immunosuppressant and/or corticosteroid therapy, Leukopenia was not associated to a higher number of infections. In 6 of the 12 patients who died, death was directly related with the infection; in one half of them, infections were due to an opportunistic organism (cytomegalovirus in 2 cases, disseminated candidiasis in one) and were not identified until necropsy. The need to rule out an opportunistic infection in any patient with SLE and fever is emphasized, particularly when there is pulmonary involvement and the patients have undergone aggressive diagnostic and/therapeutic interventions (immunosuppressants, plasmapheresis, renal dialysis).
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PMID:[Infections in 96 cases of systemic lupus erythematosus]. 238 Dec 45

Nocardiosis is an increasingly recognised opportunistic infection in immunologically incompetent hosts but diagnosis is often delayed. Between December 1975 to October 1988, our two Nephrology Units have encountered five cases of nocardiosis occurring in two post-renal transplant patients, two patients with systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) and one patient with mesangiocapillary glomerulo--nephritis. All were on immunosuppressants at the time. The first three patients presented with predominant pulmonary disease and were cured by combined trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (cotrimoxazole) and doxycycline therapy. The patient with limited skin involvement responded to cotrimoxazole alone. However, the last patient with lymphocutaneous disease initially responded to cotrimoxazole (+ chloramphenicol) but developed acute-on-chronic renal failure and relapsed with dose reduction of cotrimoxazole. Alternative treatment with amikacin and doxycycline was instituted with good response. We shall review potential clues that may suggest the diagnosis of nocardiosis and discuss other effective antimicrobial agents.
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PMID:Spectrum of nocardiosis in renal patients. 239 40

Prolongation of partial thromboplastin time was noted in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) who were admitted to the hospital for diagnosis of opportunistic infection. As biopsy procedures were often indicated, detailed investigation of the abnormal coagulation study was performed in four patients. Results confirmed the presence of a lupus anticoagulant. Partial thromboplastin times of 34 consecutive subsequent patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of AIDS-associated opportunistic infection were recorded; prolongation was noted in 24 of these. None of these 38 patients exhibited clinical evidence of bleeding. One patient had a confirmed thrombotic episode. Prolonged partial thromboplastin time is a common finding in hospitalized patients with AIDS and opportunistic infection. If no clinical history of unusual bleeding is noted, the lupus anticoagulant should be suspected. Many patients with AIDS require invasive procedures for disease management; the lupus anticoagulant, an in vitro phenomenon, should not prevent these studies.
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PMID:Lupus anticoagulant in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 308 92

The causes of death were examined in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who were cared for at the University of California, San Francisco and who died after 1969. Of the 44 deaths analyzed, 33 patients had autopsies. Infections were common and often determined to be the cause of death. Overall, infections were present in 55 percent (22/44), and judged to be a cause of death in 30 percent (13/44) of all deaths. The infections could be divided into 2 groups: those due to common bacterial organisms and those due to opportunistic infections. These two types of infections occurred with similar frequency. When compared to common bacterial infections, however, the opportunistic infections were more likely to be first diagnosed at autopsy (p = .001). In only 3 of the 15 patients with an opportunistic infection was the diagnosis made antemortem. Failure to diagnose an opportunistic infection early occurred when the infection simulated active SLE, and when the possibility of an opportunistic infection was not aggressively investigated. The most common opportunistic infections were Candida albicans and Pneumocystis carinii. The most common site of opportunistic infection was the lung. Seventeen patients had 27 common bacterial infections, chiefly sepsis from Staphylococcus aureus and aerobic gram-negative organisms. Eight patients had both a common bacterial and an opportunistic infection. Stepwise linear regression analysis showed that death from infection correlated most strongly with prednisone and cytotoxic drug use in the 3 months before final admission. No measure of lupus activity was found to correlate with death from infection, except that hypocomplementemia correlated with death from bacterial infections.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Fatal infections in systemic lupus erythematosus: the role of opportunistic organisms. 362 46

Opportunistic infections are common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and toxoplasmosis of the brain resembles central nervous system manifestations of active SLE. A case is described that illustrates the clinical and pathological features of this infection with discussion of the diagnostic procedures and treatment.
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PMID:Toxoplasma gondii encephalitis in systemic lupus erythematosus. A neglected cause of treatable nervous system infection. 408 77

A 45-year-old female with selective deficiency of C4 and systemic lupus erythematosus developed puzzling gastrointestinal and systemic symptoms in the last 6 months of her life. Extensive investigation of the gastrointestinal tract did not yield any diagnosis, and the patient died shortly afterwards. Autopsy revealed evidence of a typical Whipple's disease of the jejunum and lymph nodes. This association has not been previously described. The disease is reviewed with emphasis on its being an opportunistic infection in an immunosuppressed host with a complement deficiency and SLE.
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PMID:Selective C4 deficiency, systemic lupus erythematosus, and Whipple's disease. 619 77


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