Cardiac consequences of the systemic lupus erythematosus therapy with corticosteroids morphological study.

ABSTRACT

It is presented the case of a fifty years old women, diagnosed 3 years ago with systemic lupus erythematosus, under therapy with prednisone and cyclophosphamid therapy. She was admitted in our hospital for right decompensated heart disease and the presence of an apical right ventricular mass occluding part of the right ventricular cavity. The endomyocardial biopsy was made to clearify the nature of this mass. After processing the specimen, the histological study evidenciated an organizing apical thrombotic mass formed in a large right ventricular cavity in conditions of pulmonary hypertention. There are presented data concerning the adverse effects of the systemic lupus erythematosus drug therapy, as well. In these circumstances, we demonstrated histologically, that both conditions could alter the heart morphology.