title: Renal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus. A study of 180 patients from a single center.
abstract: Charts of 180 patients (147 women, 33 men) with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) complicated by renal involvement were retrospectively analyzed from a series of 436 patients. Mean age at renal disease onset was 27 years. Thirty-six percent of the patients had renal involvement after diagnosis of lupus, for 30.7% of that group it was more than 5 years later. Renal involvement occurred more frequently in young male patients of non-French non-white origin. Patients with renal involvement suffered more commonly from malar rash, psychosis, myocarditis, pericarditis, lymphadenopathy, and hypertension. Anemia, low serum complement, and raised anti-dsDNA antibodies were more frequent. According to the 1982 World Health Organization classification, histologic examination of initial renal biopsy specimen in 158 patients showed normal kidney in 1.5% of cases, mesangial in 22%, focal proliferative in 22%, diffuse proliferative in 27%, membranous in 20%, chronic sclerosing glomerulonephritis in 1%, and other forms of nephritis in 6.5%. Distribution of initial glomerulonephritis patterns was similar whether renal involvement occurred before or after the diagnosis of lupus. Transformation from 1 histologic pattern to another was observed in more than half of the analyzable patients (those who underwent at least 2 renal biopsies). Nephritis evolved toward end-stage renal disease in 14 patients despite the combined use of steroids and cyclophosphamide in 12. Initial elevated serum creatinine levels, initial hypertension, non-French non-white origin, and proliferative lesions on the initial renal biopsy were indicators of poor renal outcome. Twenty-four patients died after a mean follow-up of 109 months from SLE diagnosis. Among our 436 patients, the 10-year survival rate was not significantly affected by the presence or absence of renal involvement at diagnosis (89% and 92%, respectively).
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Huong
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Papo
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Beaufils
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wechsler
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blétry
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baumelou
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Godeau
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Piette
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001706:Biopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000209:etiology; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015995:Prevalence; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D003404:Creatinine; D011241:Prednisone