Bone & joints
Arthritis
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Author: Vijay Shankar, M.D.
Last author update: 1 May 2013
Last staff update: 26 January 2022
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Systemic lupus erythematosus [title] joints loattrfree full text[sb]
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Clinical images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) imagesCite this page: Shankar V. Systemic lupus erythematosus. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/jointsSLE.html. Accessed June 8th, 2023.
Definition / general
- Autoimmune disease that usually presents with mild arthritis or joint effusions
- Destructive joint disease is rare except for those on steroid therapy who rarely can develop aseptic necrosis
- Occasionally there is a progression to rheumatoid-like nonerosive hand deformities (Jaccoud syndrome) (Rheum Dis Clin North Am 1988;14:99, Ann Rheum Dis 1974;33:204)
- Synovial fluid shows less inflammation than rheumatoid arthritis
Clinical images
Images hosted on other servers:
Correctable swan neck deformities and ulnar deviation
Readily correctable swan neck deformities and subluxation of right fifth MCP
Metacarpal heads - no cartilage damage seen
Noncorrectable deformities of PIP joints
Mild ulnar deviation, especially on right
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Changes resemble rheumatoid arthritis but with more intense surface fibrin deposition and less synovial proliferation and less intense inflammation
- Occasional vasculitis can be seen (Ann Intern Med 1971;74:911)
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Synovial membrane
