MR spectroscopy for following up of the neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE): Does it improve after treatment

초록

Background: The early neuropsychiatric manifestations of SLE are diverse and difficult to discriminate. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is known as useful technique for early detection of disorder of brain metabolism such as neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE). The N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) ratio at basal ganglia in patients with NPSLE decreases significantly than that of normal controls in MRS. Purpose: This study was aimed to evaluate the changes of MRS findings between initial and follow-up examinations and to assess the utility of MRS for treatment follow-up tool of NPSLE, we compared the changes of MRS findings to the changes of disease activity and neuropsychiatric manifestations in patients with NPSLE.