title: A multicentre study of 513 Danish patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. II. Disease mortality and clinical factors of prognostic value.
abstract: In this Danish multicentre study, predictive clinical factors of mortality and survival were calculated for 513 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 122 of whom died within a mean observation period of 8.2 years equalling a mortality rate of 2.9% per year. Survival rates were 97%, 91%, 76% and 64% after 1, 5, 10 and 15 years, respectively. The direct causes of death included SLE (n = 35), infections (n = 25), malignancy (n = 9), cardiovascular disease (n = 32) and other causes (n = 21). Uni- and multivariate analyses of survival and mortality were performed for all deaths and for SLE-related deaths. Azotaemia (one-fifth of the patients) was a strong predictor of increased overall and SLE-related mortality, but nephropathy per se (one-half of the patients) and large proteinuria (one-sixth of the patients) were unrelated to survival. Haemolytic anaemia had a significant negative influence on survival related to mortality caused by infections. Diffuse central nervous system disease and myocarditis were related to increased SLE-related mortality, whereas photosensitivity predicted a decreased mortality. Non-fatal infections and thrombotic events predicted a decreased overall survival. Since 1980 the mortality caused by SLE manifestations has decreased significantly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology at Copenhagen University Hospitals at Hvidovre Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ullman
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Junker
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Voss
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tarp
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Overeem Hansen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Skaarup
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pødenphant
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Halberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate