Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease.
This means that your body's defenses against infection are
attacking your own tissue. This causes inflammation. Areas of
the skin or joints become painful, red, and swollen. Other parts
of the body can also become inflamed, including the muscles,
kidneys, nervous system, blood vessels, and heart. SLE may cause
heart problems such as: Pericarditis is inflammation of the sac
around the heart. This sac is called the pericardium. It may
cause chest pain or a buildup of fluid around the heart. This is
the heart problem most often caused by SLE. SLE can cause heart
valve problems by causing a peculiar kind of growth on the
surfaces of the heart valves. These growths, called vegetations,
usually cause no problems. The uninfected vegetations tend to
heal in time. However, this healing may cause scarring that
deforms a heart valve leaflet, causing a leaky valve.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that happens
in about 1 out of 10 people with