Systemic Lupus and Polyneuropathy

COLLAGEN DISEASES affect the peripheral nervous system in two ways. One is a mononeuritis or mononeuritis multiplex that has been reported in periarteritis,1-4rheumatoid arthritis,5rheumatoid arthritis with arteritis,5-8and lupus erythematosus.9-12The other form of peripheral-nerve involvement, a symmetrical polyneuritis, has been reported to occur in periarteritis,1,13,14scleroderma,15,16rheumatoid arthritis,2,5,6, 17,18rheumatoid arthritis with arteritis,5,8,17and lupus erythematosus.2,9,19,20All told, there are about 200 well-documented cases of peripheral neuropathies in collagen disease, but only a few of these cases involved systemic lupus. However, a recent tabulation of 520 cases of lupus by Dubois and Tuffanelli,21reporting an 11.7% incidence of some form of peripheral neuropathy with lupus, suggests that this manifestation may be more common than was heretofore thought. This communication presents a case of systemic lupus erythematosus with severe symmetrical polyneuritis and reviews the related literature. Report of a Case A 50-year-old Negro woman was admitted to