engleski

Damage accrual in a group of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients deceased during a 10- year period

Background. Permanent organ damage is associated with a higher mortality risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Objective. Comparison of damage accrual in SLE patients deceased early and late during the disease course. Patients/Methods. Assessment of damage accrual (by means of the SLICC/ACR damage index) in SLE patients deceased during the 2002-2011 period in a single center. SLE patients with at least four ACR classification criteria for SLE and at least one visit to our center within three years before death were included. The χ2 test and Fisher exact test, as well as the t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to evaluate differences between categorical and continuous variables, respectively. The study was approved by the local ethics committee. Results. We identified 90 deceased SLE patients (68 females and 22 males). 21 patients deceased within five years following diagnosis (early death group, EDG) and 69 thereafter (late death group, LDG). Damage accrual at the time of death was higher in the LDG compared to the EDG (5.59±3.15 versus 2.62±2.18, t=4.0315, p=0.0001), as well as the frequency of malignancy and musculoskeletal damage (24/69 versus 1/21, χ2 =7.962, p=0.005 and 48/69 versus 5/21, χ2 =13.923, p=0.0002, respectively). Conversely, damage accrual after one year following diagnosis was higher in the EDG compared to the LDG (2.12±1.62 versus 0.99±1.37, U=838.5, p=0.006). Conclusion. Although damage accrual is more pronounced in patients deceased after a longer disease course, higher early damage seems to be a feature of SLE patients deceased within five years following diagnosis.

damage ; Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) ; patients

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