Clinical presentations and outcomes of Filipino juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective: juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (sle) varies by location and ethnicity. this study describes the clinical,laboratory profile and outcome of juvenile sle seen at philippine general hospital (pgh) from 2004-2008.method: medical charts of all filipino juvenile sle cases admitted at pgh during the 5-year period were reviewed collecting demographic profile,clinical and laboratory manifestations and treatment during disease course.results: seventy-eight cases of juvenile sle were reviewed. there were 7 boys and 71 girls. the mean age at diagnosis was 14 years (sd 2.7) with a range of 8-18 years. fever (52.5%) and malar rash (41.0%) were the most common features at disease onset. at the time of diagnosis,the most common features were malar rash (65.3%),renal involvement (62.8%) and photosensitivity (55.1%). mucocutaneous (92.3%),renal (71.7%) and hematologic (69.2%) involvement were the most common features during the entire course of illness. infection (34.5%) and neurologic (19.0%) complications were observed most frequently. corticocosteroid treatment was given in most of the patients in the form of prednisone (97.4%) and concomitant methylprednisolone intravenous pulses (29.4%). nine patients died during the study period. the overall 5-year mortality rate was 11.5%. infection (77.0%) was the most frequent cause of death.conclusion: malar rash was a common feature at disease onset and at diagnosis among filipinos with juvenile sle. throughout the disease course,renal involvement occurs in 71.7% of patients. infection was the leading cause of complication and death. the clinical presentations of filipinos with juvenile sle were similar to juvenile sle in other countries. © 2011 gulay and dans; licensee biomed central ltd.