Large artery inflammation in systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

A 23-year-old African-American woman with a history of recurrent pneumonias presented to the hospital with 2 weeks of shortness of breath, chest pain, fevers, and lightheadedness. The histologic diagnosis proved to be lupus aortitis. Optimal Framingham risk factor management by itself may not be a completely successful approach in diminishing the extra risk of atherosclerosis conferred by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Therefore it remains possible that important modifiable cardiovascular risk factors may include low-grade SLE disease activity in medium-sized vessels. The implication of the idea that subclinical vessel inflammation is widespread in patients with lupus—and that this inflammation confers a significant part of the patients’ risk of accelerated atherosclerosis—might be a lowering of the threshold for aggressive disease-modifying treatment of lupus, essentially a “treat-to-target” approach to systemic lupus.