RUPTURED CEREBRAL ANEURYSMS IN A PATIENT WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

The incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage due to aneurysm is considered to be higher in systemic lupus erythematosus than in the general population. They are attributed to lupus angitis or to coincidental "congenital" aneurysm. On the other hand, because of sporadic reports of cerebral aneurysms in patients with lupus erythematosus, the relationship between cerebral aneurysms and systemic lumpus erythematosus is still unclear. A patient with established systemic lupus erythematosus in whom subarachnoid hemorrhage occured from rupture of fusiform aneurysm is presented. A 22-year-old woman with a 5-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus was found to have fusiform aneurysms in the left internal carotid artery, the left middle cerebral artery and the proximal left anterior cerebral artery. She was treated internally, but unfortunately died five days after the onset. Cerebral aneurysms associated with systemic lupus erythematosus are reviewed in the literature and the pathogenesis of these aneurysms is discussed