SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS PRESENTING WITH STEROID-RESPONSIVE PARKINSONISM AND POST-HEMIPLEGIC DYSTONIA

A young male patient who presented with steroid-responsive parkinsonis m, hemiplegia, thrombocytopaenia and systemic illness who was subseque ntly diagnosed to have systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is described . He later developed post-hemiplegic dystonia. Thalamic lesions on mag netic resonance imaging (MRI) are demonstrated. Clinical features and neuropathology of central nervous system lupus are discussed. This is the first report of SLE presenting with Parkinsonism, and the first to demonstrate anatomically-relevant MRI lesions in Parkinsonism associa ted with SLE. (C) 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishers.