COLLAGEN DISEASES affect the peripheral nervous system in two ways. One is a mononeuritis or mononeuritis multiplex that has been reported in periarteritis,1-4 rheumatoid arthritis,5 rheumatoid arthritis with arteritis,5-8 and lupus erythematosus.9-12 The other form of peripheral-nerve involvement, a symmetrical polyneuritis, has been reported to occur in periarteritis,1,13,14 scleroderma,15,16 rheumatoid arthritis,2,5,6, 17,18 rheumatoid arthritis with arteritis,5,8,17 and lupus erythematosus.2,9,19,20 All told, there are about 200 well-documented cases of peripheral neuropathies in collagen disease, but only a few of these cases involved systemic lupus. However, a recent tabulation of 520 cases of lupus by Dubois and Tuffanelli,21 reporting an 11.7% incidence of some form of peripheral neuropathy with lupus, suggests that this manifestation may be more common than was heretofore thought. This communication presents a case of systemic lupus erythematosus with severe symmetrical polyneuritis and reviews the related literature.
Report of a Case
A 50-year-old Negro woman was admitted to