Application of high-resolution magnetic resonance vascular wall imaging in early SLE patients with cerebral vasculitis

Motivation: To observe the inflammatory changes of cerebral vessels in patients with early SLE by high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging , and analyze its relationship with disease activity and small vessel disease. Goal(s): Aimed to evaluate the potential of HR-VWI in predicting the development and clinical severity of brain lesions. Approach: The imaging features of inflammatory changes of cerebral vessel wall in each group were observed and the vasculitis score was calculated. The correlation between vasculitis score and disease activity in SLE patients was analyzed. Results: As the severity of cerebral vasculitis increases, the disease activity and neuropsychiatric symptoms of SLE patients also increase. Impact: This study is the first to use HR-VWI to observe cerebral vessel wall lesions in large-scale early SLE patients, which has the potential to be used as an imaging biomarker to predict the development of brain lesions.