Acute cerebellar ataxia of a patient with SLE

We described a 28-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pr esented with digestive tract, skin and renal symptoms and afterwards develo ped acute cerebellar ataxia, a paresis of the right inferior rectus muscle, left abducens paralysis and left facial palsy which seemed to be consisten t with a brainstem lesion visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This lesion disappeared within 9 days of corticosteroid treatment. It is sugges ted that this lesion is focal edema induced by acute changes in the blood b rain barrier secondary to a vasculopathy. Other causes, including local inf arction, are unlikely. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.