[Cumulative organ damage evaluation using SLICC/ACR-DI in patients with more than five years of systemic lupus erythematosus]

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the frequency of different types of irreversible lesions in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with more than five years of disease.

Methods: ninety female SLE patients with more than five years of disease were evaluated concerning the irreversible damage score using Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLICC/ACR/DI).

Results: patients mean age was 38 ± 10 years old (60% white). The average time after diagnosis was 128 ± 59 months, the mean number of ACR criteria was 7 ± 1, and the mean SLICC/ACR-DI score was 2 ± 2. Seventy-two percent of patients presented SLICC/ACRDI score > 1. We found a tendency to association between actual older age and presence of damage (p = 0.06). We did not find association between age at time of SLE diagnosis, disease duration or number of ACR criteria and presence of irreversible damage (p > 0.05), but we found a significant association between discoid lesion and presence of damage (p = 0.049) as well as between positive double strand anti-DNA antibody and damage (p = 0.013). Concerning the type of irreversible lesions, we found cardiovascular damage in 21%, dermatological lesions in 21%, musculoskeletal lesions in 17%, gonadal lesions in 16%, neuropsychiatric damage in 13%, eye lesions in 12%, renal lesions in 12%, peripheral vascular lesions in 10%, pulmonary damage in 6%, endocrinological damage in 6% and malignances in 3%. There was no significant association between duration of prednisone use and damage (p = 0.725), however we found a significant association between prednisone cumulative dose and presence of damage (p = 0.013). We found a tendency to association between lower duration of antimalarial drugs and irreversible damage (p = 0.068).

Conclusions: irreversible lesions were found in 72% of SLE patients with more than five years of disease. The more prevalent lesions were cardiovascular, dermatological, musculoskeletal and gonadal. The cumulative dose of prednisone showed significant association with presence of damage, suggesting the importance of spare steroid strategies.