title: Treatment of the cutaneous lesions of systemic lupus erythematosus with thalidomide.
abstract: Twenty three patients with SLE and cutaneous lesions not responsive to chloroquine, photoprotectors and corticosteroid in doses < 0.5 mg/kg/day were treated with thalidomide 300 mg/day. Three patients presented side effects and had to discontinue treatment. Eighteen of the remaining 20 patients (90%) had complete remission of the cutaneous lesions and 2 had partial improvement. Another important parameter of improvement was a reduction in the average prednisone dose required from 40.5 mg/day to 17.4 mg/day. The most frequent side effects were drowsiness in 52% of cases and abdominal distention in 22%. These symptoms were reversed by dose reductions in all but one patient. Thalidomide was shown to be efficient in the treatment of cutaneous lesions unresponsive to more usual treatments.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Atra
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008178:Lupus Erythematosus, Cutaneous / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012074:Remission Induction; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000187:drug effects; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D013792:Thalidomide