Long-term psychosis 'rare in lupus'

Psychosis due to lupus is rare and usually occurs early in the disease, according to a new study published in the journal Rheumatology.

Researchers from the Centre for Rheumatology Research at the University College of London Division of Medicine and the Rheumatology Section at the Meixoeiro Hospital in Vigo, Spain, studied 485 patients diagnosed with systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Psychosis was found in 11 (2.3 per cent) patients, and this appeared as the initial presentation of the disease in 60 per cent of the patients, and within the first year of the disease in 80 per cent of the cases.

The researchers concluded: "Psychosis due to lupus is an uncommon event that usually occurs early in the course of the disease and is associated with other clinical and biological features of SLE."

They added: "Long-term outcome appears to be favourable after intensive immunosuppressive treatment."

However, the study authors noted that there is still a "need for prospective multi-centre studies to improve … knowledge and to help establish guidelines for the treatment of this rare complication of lupus".

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