TY - JOUR T1 - Parvovirus B19–associated Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Clinical Mimicry or Autoimmune Induction? JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 2430 LP - 2432 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.100345 VL - 37 IS - 11 AU - MEGHAN T. HESSION AU - SHIU-CHUNG AU AU - ALICE B. GOTTLIEB Y1 - 2010/11/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/37/11/2430.2.abstract N2 - To the Editor:Recent research has focused on the role of parvovirus B19 in the etiopathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The acute manifestations of B19 infection, including symmetric polyarthritis, cytopenia, and macular erythema, bear striking similarity to those found in SLE. Further, infection with B19 elicits autoantibodies to antigens commonly found in patients with SLE, including nuclear antigens, dsDNA, and phospholipids1. These symptoms and laboratory abnormalities are transient in some cases, yet persist in others, sparking debate over whether the similarities observed between acute B19 infection and SLE are mere coincidence, or whether the virus does in fact induce chronic autoimmunity. We describe a case of SLE possibly triggered by parvovirus B19, and we conducted a literature search to identify other cases in which B19 infection induced either transient or persistent SLE symptoms. To identify potential prognostic factors for the development of persistent disease, we performed a 2-tailed t test (p value for statistical significance = 0.05) to analyze differences in mean antinuclear antibody (ANA) titers in patients with transient versus persistent symptoms.A 59-year-old woman was referred for a history of urticarial plaques in the setting of fatigue, facial flushing, and polyarthritis of the hands and elbows. Her joint symptoms first developed 2 years ago; at the time, she was treated for presumed rheumatoid arthritis. However, she subsequently developed urticarial plaques on the torso, back, and arms. Biopsy of a plaque revealed an upper dermal angiocentric mixed polynuclear and mononuclear cell inflammatory infiltrate with … Address correspondence to M.T. Hession; E-mail: mth2114{at}columbia.edu ER -