Spectrum of Myelitis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Experience from a Single Tertiary Care Centre over 25 Years

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory myelitis rarely occurs in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: Medical records from a tertiary care centre in India (1989–2018) were reviewed to identify patients with myelitis in SLE and their clinical characteristics and outcomes were compared with two matching comparators drawn from adjacent hospital registration numbers in the SLE database. RESULTS: Ten patients had myelitis from a cohort of 1768 patients with SLE. Myelitis was the first manifestation of lupus in 7 (70%). Cervicothoracic cord was most frequent site of involvement. ANA was negative at onset in 2 cases. One of 4 was positive for Anti-Aquaporin 4 antibody. Four had relapsing disease (16 events) with a median time to relapse of 0.65 years (0.3– 7 years). All cases received steroid sparing agents over the follow-up duration (78.5 patient years). Lupus nephritis (20% vs. 75%, p=0.004) and haematologic manifestations (0 vs. 25%, p=0.02) were less common. Higher frequency of anti-Ro antibodies was noted in the group with myelitis (p=0.05). CONCLUSION: Myelitis can be a presenting feature of SLE with lupus nephritis and hematologic involvement being rare. Relapses are common that mandate long-term immunosuppression.