Introduction: Neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestations occur in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and it is challenging to distinguish these manifestations from other neuropsychiatric conditions.
Objectives: We aimed to assess the prevalence of primary neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE) in a Polish cohort of SLE patients.
Patients and methods: This retrospective, cross‑sectional study evaluated 164 patients with SLE. NP manifestations were attributed to SLE using the Italian model. Demographic and clinical data, including disease activity (measured by the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index version 2000 [SLEDAI‑2K] and the Physician Global Assessment) and organ damage (measured by the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics / American College of Rheumatology Damage Index), were obtained in patients with and without NP manifestations attributed to SLE.
Results: The final analysis set included 143 patients, 34 of whom (23.8%) had NP manifestations attributed to SLE. The age of the patients with NPSLE and the age of disease onset were significantly lower in comparison with those without NP symptoms attributed to SLE (median [interquartile range], 38 [29-45] vs 45 [32-55] years; P = 0.009, and 35 [24-38] vs 40 [25-48] years; P = 0.03, respectively). The disease activity and proportion of patients with active disease (SLEDAI‑2K ≥6) was significantly higher in the NPSLE patients than in those without NP symptoms attributed to SLE (P <0.005; 100% vs 85.3%; P = 0.01, respectively). NP manifestations in the central nervous system were the most frequent (91.5%). In the patients with NPSLE, cerebrovascular disease, seizures, cognitive dysfunction, psychosis, and cranial neuropathy occurred most often.
Conclusions: NP manifestations occurred mainly in young patients with high disease activity. Cerebrovascular disease, seizures, psychosis, cognitive dysfunction, and cranial neuropathy were the most frequent manifestations of NPSLE.