Neurology of systemic autoimmune disorders: A pediatric perspective

• Published in: Seminars in pediatric neurology Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 108 - 117
• Main Author: Schor, Nina Felice
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-06-2000
• Subjects: Arthritis, Rheumatoid - diagnosis; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - immunology; Behcet Syndrome - diagnosis; Behcet Syndrome - immunology; Brain - immunology; Brain - pathology; Child; Child, Preschool; Dermatomyositis - diagnosis; Dermatomyositis - immunology; HLA-DQ Antigens - immunology; Humans; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - diagnosis; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - immunology; Polymyositis - diagnosis; Polymyositis - immunology
• ISSN: 1071-9091; 1558-0776
• DOI: 10.1053/pb.2000.6692

Autoimmune disorders can involve patients of any age and organs of any organ system. The central and peripheral nervous systems are frequently among the targets of these diseases. Immune dysfunction often presents in childhood or adolescence. Among the autoimmune disorders that present during childhood and adolescence, systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, and Behcet's disease affect the nervous system with some degree of frequency. Furthermore, although juvenile rheumatoid arthritis only rarely affects the nervous system during childhood, it and its adult-onset counterpart may have profound long-term neurological consequences. Both symptomatic and pathophysiologically aimed therapies are important in the treatment of the nervous system sequelae of systemic autoimmune disorders.