Cerebrovascular disease in women with systemic lupus erythematosus

An analysis of frequency, structure and risk factors of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is presented. A study included 143 women (mean age 36.7 +/- 12.7 years) with confirmed systemic lupus erythematosus. Acute or chronic CVD was found almost in a half of cases. Among acute blood circulation disorders, there was a high frequency of brain ischemia with equal number of cases with transitory ischemic attacks and ischemic strokes. Chronic cerebrovascular disease was mostly represented by chronic brain ischemia. The basic (standard) and some specific (non-standard) risk factors of the development of cerebrovascular disease in women with SLE are revealed. Based on the features of a clinical course of SLE, we identified the correlations of acute blood circulation disorders with duration, course and activity of disease. The paper presents original methods of the mathematical prediction of the development of chronic brain ischemia in women with SLE without clinical manifestations of cerebrovascular pathology. The tactics of prophylactic medical examinations depending on the results of the prediction model was proposed. The authors present an approximate list of preventive measures based on the use of systems of individual prediction.