Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is related to vasculitis, which causes brain infarctions; however, the pathology of large cerebral vessels has not been fully established.
Purpose: To demonstrate the prevalence of vessel wall lesions (VWLs) in SLE patients using 3D vessel wall imaging and to assess the relationship between VWLs and brain infarctions.
Study type: Retrospective.
Subjects: Sixty SLE patients and 50 healthy subjects (HS).
Field strength/sequence: Each subject underwent 3T MRI, which included 3D FSE PDWI (CUBE).
Assessment: For each of the 33 segments of the intracranial artery (internal carotid artery ∼ M3 segment of middle cerebral artery [MCA]), the VWLs were scored as either positive or negative, and the VWL score was calculated as the sum of the segments with VWLs. We also evaluated brain lesions on conventional MRI.
Statistical tests: We used logistic regression analyses to determine the clinical (serological test and cardiovascular risk factors) and imaging characteristics associated with infarctions in SLE patients.
Results: For the peripheral vessels such as MCA, VWLs were more common for SLE patients than for HS (43.3% versus 16.7% in M1 segment, 60.4% versus 16.7% in M2 segment, both P < 0.01). There were 21 infarctions in 13 patients (21.7%), and the median VWL score was larger in the patients with infarctions than in those without (13 versus 6, P < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed a high VWL score ( ≥ 9) to be the only factor independently associated with the presence of infarctions (odds ratio: 10.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.01-101; P < 0.049).
Data conclusion: We demonstrated a substantially high prevalence of VWLs among SLE patients, which were associated with brain infarctions.
Level of evidence: 3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:1237-1246.
Keywords: CNS vasculitis; Magnetic resonance imaging; stroke; systemic lupus erythematosus.
© 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.