Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome with spinal cord involvement as the first presentation of lupus nephritis

Abstract

A 23-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department with the history of headache, serial seizures, and decreased the level of consciousness from a week before. At admission, blood pressure was 230/170 mmHg, and creatinine level was 7.6 mg/dl. Initial brain and cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed hyperintense lesions on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) in bilateral occipital lobes and a longitudinally extensive lesion in the spinal cord (Figure 1, A-C). In the laboratory investigations, the level of anti-double stranded DNA was 45 IU/ml (normal < 10 IU/ml) and anti-nuclear antibody titer was high (> 1/160). Moreover, in renal biopsy, lupus nephritis was reported. Two weeks later, after hypertension treatment, the hyperintense signals wholly disappeared (Figure 1, D-F).

Figure 1. Axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicating hypersignal lesions in parieto-occipital areas in favor of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) at admission (A, B); sagittal T2 cervical MRI demonstrating a longitudinally extensive lesion in the spinal cord at admission (C); two weeks later, the hyperintense signals had completely disappeared on the brain and spinal cord MRIs (D-F).