Diffusion Tensor Imaging & Cognition in Patients with Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Becky Ilana Haynes¹, Nicholas G. Dowell¹, Jenny Rusted², Tofts S. Paul¹, Kevin A. Davies¹

This study compares patients with Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erytheatosus (NPSLE) non-NPSLE and matched healthy controls on Diffusion Tensor Imaging parameters Apparent Diffusions coefficient (ADC) and Fractional Anisotropy (FA) and correlated these parameters with performance on cognitive tasks. Results indicate significant differences in white matter ADC with the NPSLE group showing significantly higher values than the control group. This did not however correlate with cognitive performance. Instead white matter FA correlated with performance on cognitive tasks in the NPSLE group, and the strength of this correlation increased when age was added as a covariate.