Predictors for neuropsychiatric development in Chinese adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus

The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) development and clinical factors to elucidate potential predictors at the time of SLE onset as well as during NP flares. Sixty-seven adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18 years with SLE were retrospectively reviewed, and their clinical characteristics and laboratory findings were analyzed. Twenty-four (35.82%) patients with NPSLE were included in the analysis. Renal involvement at the time of SLE onset was significantly less common in patients who developed NP symptoms (P = 0.0038), but renal involvement during the entire follow-up (FU) period was not significantly different between patients with NP and those without NP. Photosensitivity at the time of SLE diagnosis was significantly more common in patients with NP (P = 0.0080). No differences were found in the clinical and laboratory results between the time of SLE onset and NP onset in the same late-onset NP group. Our results suggest that NP development is negatively correlated with renal involvement at the onset of SLE, but not during the entire FU period, and NP development is positively correlated with photosensitivity at the time of SLE onset. We could not identify any factors that might predict the occurrence of NP symptoms during an NP flare.