Lateralized EEG findings in patients with neuropsychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus

Routine and quantitative EEG were used to determine whether there is a late ralized pattern of electrophysiologic dysfunction in patients with diverse neuropsychiatric manifestations of SLE. Twenty consecutive patients with ne uropsychiatric symptoms of SLE underwent 20-minute EEG recordings with an 1 8-channel polygraph. Ten 1-second intervals were randomly selected for each patient. Once selected, the intervals were analyzed for the presence of th eta and delta slow activity. Mapping was done by four-point interpolation a round the 18 acquired data points. On routine EEG, abnormalities were ident ified in 14/20 patients with SLE. In 12/14 patients, the abnormalities were localized to the left temporal region. Quantitative EEG analyses revealed theta and delta slow activity predominantly affecting the left hemisphere i n 16/19 patients with SLE. Taken together, these findings suggest selective involvement of the left hemisphere in patients with diverse neuropsychiatr ic manifestations of SLE.