Antinuclear antibody-negative lupus? An ominous presentation of hydralazine-induced lupus syndrome

Abstract

Up to 10% of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cases are drug-induced; hence, they are calleddrug-induced lupus syndrome (DILS). Antinuclear antibody (ANA) should be present to diagnose SLEand DILS. ANA-negative lupus is very rare; therefore, it presents a diagnostic challenge. In the medi-cal literature, two cases of ANA-negative hydralazine-induced lupus syndrome (HILS) have been de-scribed within the last year. Here, we present the third such case of HILS with negative ANA serologyin a patient who developed considerable pericardial effusion. The association between ANA-negativeHILS and pericardial effusion warrants future research.