Reduction of Cerebral and Corpus Callosum Volumes in Childhood-Onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Volumetric Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis.

Objective: There have been few studies in which the prevalence of cerebral atrophy in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumetric measurements. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of cerebral and corpus callosum atrophy in childhood-onset SLE and to determine the possible relationships between atrophy and clinical, laboratory, and treatment features of the disease.

Methods: We included 76 patients with childhood-onset SLE (69 female and 7 male; median age 16 years) and 66 age- and sex-matched healthy controls.