Three patients with aseptic meningitis were subsequently diagnosed as having lupus erythematosus. One patient had a single meningitic episode, another had chronic meningitis, and the third two acute episodes 5 years apart. All 3 patients developed further neuropsychiatric manifestations of SLE, leading to death in 1. Aseptic meningitis appears to be an early manifestation of SLE and may herald more serious brain damage. No new cases of aseptic meningitis occurred in this series after initiation of therapy for SLE. In contrast, bacterial meningitis did occur as a late complication of the disease. Address reprint orders to Dr. Cohen. Submitted for publication November 5, 1974; accepted January 20,1975. A l t h o u g h systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can involve any part of the c e n t r a l and peripheral nervous system (1-4), lupus m e n i n g i t i s has seldom been described (1-14). Because of t h e i m p o r t a n t differential diagnostic aspects of t h i s condition and its relevance to therapy, t h e a u t h o r s describe in this rep o r t 3 p a t i e n t s in whom aseptic meningitis was an early and p r o m i n e n t manifestation of SLE.