Patterns of cognitive impairment in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

This study examined neuropsychological test performance in a representative sample of 70 female patients with SLE. The influence of current or past clinically overt central nervous system involvement, use of corticosteroid medications and overall disease activity were evaluated. The results suggest two distinct patterns of cognitive dysfunction. Impaired delayed recognition memory was associated with past or current nervous system involvement, suggesting the presence of a residual neurologic deficit. Increased disease activity was associated with impaired immediate memory and concentration which may represent transient and diffuse central nervous system effects. Although corticosteroid use was associated with poor word list recall, group differences were not statistically significant when disease activity was considered as a covariate in the analysis. Follow-up studies are required to determine if these abnormalities persist or fluctuate with changes in disease activity and concurrent medications.