Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in children: What relationship?

Abstract

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a severe acute inflammatory process of the Central Nervous System (CNS) consisting of multiple foci of perivascular demyelination. It is a relatively frequent complication of infections and immunization among children. Systemic lupus Erythematosus (SLE), is a chronic autoimmune disease, of unknown etiology, that touches multiple organs simultaneously or additionally, with serious morbidity and mortality. More frequent in females, it can be associated with other auto-immune diseases. ADEM is rarely reported as the initial presentation of SLE, even rarer in the pediatric population. We present one case of a 13 years old girl with a history of ADEM, who was diagnosed with SLE eight months later.