A case report of systemic lupus erythematosus patient with severe lupus retinopathy and antiphospholipid antibody

: An eleven-year-old boy with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) developed severe bilateral lupus retinopathy when he was in active stage of SLE. The patient, who had suffered from SLE for 3 years, was admitted to our hospital because of high grade fever, systemic lymphadenopathy, leukopenia, elevation of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and hypocomplementemia. The dose of prednisolone was increased considering he was exacerbated of SLE, however, the convulsion as CNS lupus occurred to him. After the event he noted loss of vision in his bilateral eyes. The ophthalmologic examination revealed the lesions of cotton-wool spots, retinal vessel dilatations and diffuse occlusions of the retinal arterioles and venules which were compatible with lupus retinopathy. Although the coagulation time was normal, antiphospholipid antibodies were positive at the time of ocular involvement. Careful attention should be paid to the occurrence of lupus retinopathy when the patients with SLE developed in the active stage or CNS lupus, especially they have antiphospholipid antibodies.