Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Treatment-Related Complications Superimposed on Chronic Disease
- John H. Klippel, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
SELECTED CASE A 40-YEAR-OLD black woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been followed up in the arthritis clinic at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center throughout most of the 19 years of her illness. The initial manifestations of her illness developed in the postpartum period of a pregnancy that had been complicated by proteinuria believed to be caused by toxemia.
Proteinuria (2.8 g/24 h) accompanied by hematuria and red blood cell casts prompted a renal biopsy that revealed diffuse, proliferative glomerulonephritis (activity index, 6; chronicity index, 0). Other manifestations of her disease included polyarthralgias; erythematous rashes of the face, arms, and legs; and alopecia. Laboratory studies disclosed the following values: serum creatinine, 70 μmol/L; creatinine clearance, 1.75 mL/s; antinuclear antibody, 1:1280 (rim pattern); antibodies to DNA, 98% (Farr assay); and C3, 0.77 g/L. A daily 60-mg dose of prednisone was started, and during the next 2 years the
Footnotes
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Reprint requests to National Institutes of Health, Bldg 10, Room 9N228, Bethesda, MD 20892 (Dr Klippel).
