Recurrent pericarditis as the presenting symptom for diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus

Gurneet Matharoo ； William Tyler Whitmire ； Sam Sirotnikov ； Manoj Jagtiani ； Niket Sonpal

《International Journal of Case Reports and Images (IJCRI)》 8卷5期 (2017/05) Pp. 305-308

https://doi.org/10.5348/ijcri-201751-CR-10790

摘要

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that affects multiple organs. Common findings at presentation are fatigue, fever, weight loss, arthritis/arthralgias, skin manifestations, and renal pathologies. Herein, we focus on pericarditis as a less frequent although significant sign leading to the diagnosis of SLE. Case Report: A case of an African-American female with pericarditis at the time of diagnosis. The patient was a 28-year-old female who presented to the emergency department complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. She reported experiencing similar symptoms on two separate occasions prior to this admission. After appropriate workup an ANA panel was ordered on suspicion which revealed pertinent findings such as an ANA titer of 1:1280, anti- DNA(ds) 10 IU/mL, RNP antibodies ＞8 AI, Smith antibodies 2.2 AI. Conclusion: Diagnosing SLE can be considered challenging, since there are varying degrees of clinical manifestations from patient to patient. The lifetime prevalence of some cardiac manifestation in SLE is estimated to be 50%, and should be high on the differential of any presentation with chest pain or shortness of breath. It is crucial that physicians consider SLE as a diagnosis when new onset pericarditis occurs in African-American females.

關鍵字

Autoimmune ； Criteria ； Diagnosis ； Pericarditis ； Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)