Esophageal Dysmotility Disorder and Dysphagia as Initial Manifestations of Lupus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, multisystemic autoimmune disease that is diagnosed using specific clinical and biochemical inclusion criteria. Here, we report the case of a young adult who was initially diagnosed with dysphagia and later diagnosed with SLE. Other rheumatological and non-rheumatological conditions were ruled out, and serology revealed that SLE was the cause of the patient’s symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, no previous case studies or prior research identify dysphagia as a presenting symptom of SLE. While esophageal dysmotility ranging from ineffective esophageal motility (IEM) to achalasia can manifest as a later clinical consequence of SLE, it is rarely the first symptom of the disease. After diagnosis, the patient was treated with hydroxychloroquine and prednisolone, which led to significant improvement.