Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment reflected by the rate of response to therapy at 6 months and 12 months of follow-up respectively. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical, laboratory data, treatment regimens, the type of response and relapse rate of 51 patients diagnosed with LN between January 2017 and February 2020. Results:47.06% of the patients underwent renal biopsy, classes III and IV being the most common lupus nephritis types (totaling 35.3% of biopsied patients). All induction therapy choices analyzed in the study- CYC, Glucocorticoids (GCs) and MMF- proved effective at reducing the proteinuria of the patients (p=0.001, p=0.012 and p=0,019 respectively. The 12 months evaluation demonstrated an ascending trend of the complete response, starting from 27.45% at 6 months and almost doubling at 1 year (56.86%). Almost half of patients (49.02%) did not relapse, while most of them (27.45%) had only 1 relapse. Analyzing the risk of relapse for each induction drug used, CYC had the highest rate of recurrence (62.07%). The use of MMF as a maintenance drug associated the lowest degree of recurrence. Conclusions: Both CYC and MMF as induction therapy are significantly effective in reducing proteinuria. The complete response was more frequently identified as an endpoint at 12 months of follow-up.

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death inUnites States and the leading cause of adult morbidity and disability in Europe (1). Ischemic stroke represents approximately 88% of all strokes
however, in NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) database almost 40% of ischemic strokes are listed as cryptogenic strokes (2). In the context of secondary prevention, establishing an etiological diagnosis is essential when it comes to prescribing the optimal treatment for every patient. Routine evaluation of a stroke patient includes evaluation of cervico-cerebral vessels and also cardiological evaluation in order to rule out an atrial arrhythmia with embolic potential in cerebral circulation (3,4).
Between the heart and the carotid and vertebral arteries lies the aorta, an area difficult to explore. Latest data from the literature suggest an association between aortic arch atheromas and ischemic stroke, thus aortic atheromatosis may be the missing link, responsible for most of the cerebral infarctions of undetermined cause (5,6).