SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF TRANSVERSE MYELITIS IN A CHILD WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS

We describe a 13-year-old female patient with systemic lupus erythemat osus (SLE) who presented with acute transverse myelitis (ATM) in the c ourse of SLE. IgG and IgM anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) were positi ve at moderate titers. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the thoraci c spine demonstrated decreased signal intensity and diffuse edema of t he spinal cord from T-2 to T-6 On T-1-weighted images. Dramatic clinic al improvement of the neurologic impairment was noted a few days after high dose intravenous (IV) methylprednisolone (MP) and cyclophosphami de (Cy). Herein we further emphasize the benefit of IV MP and Cy in AT M and the relationship between ATM and antiphospholipid antibodies (aP LA) in SLE.