title: Prevalence of the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria in a group of 162 systemic lupus erythematosus patients from Croatia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients diagnosed and treated at the outpatient clinic of our Division fulfilling at least four American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria at the time of the study, to determine the prevalence of each of the criteria at three different time points, and to compare the data with similar studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed retrospective and descriptive analysis of medical records of 162 patients fulfilling at least 4 ACR criteria. Classification criteria were counted and the frequency of each criterion was identified at three different time points: disease onset, time of diagnosis, and the time when the study was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At diagnosis and at the time when the study was conducted there were 3.8 and 5.4 fulfilled classification criteria, respectively. The most common criterion at the time of the disease onset was arthritis (52.6%); at the time of diagnosis it was positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) titer (88.0%); and at the time when the study was conducted it was positive ANA titer (95.7%), immunologic disorder (89.5%), arthritis (71.0%), hematologic disorder (70.4%), malar rash (61.7%), and photosensitivity (51.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of ACR criteria in our patients is similar to that in other studies, especially those involving Caucasian patients. Our results confirm the value of the ACR criteria in patients with an already established diagnosis. This is the first study on the prevalence of disease manifestations among Croatian patients with SLE.
authors.affiliation: Mislav Cerovec, Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kispaticeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. mislavc@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mislav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerovec
authors.forename: Branimir
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Anić
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Padjen
authors.forename: Nada
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cikes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012219:Rheumatology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult