№ 5Immunology14 min read
Systemic lupus erythematosus: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment
1. Big picture
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, relapsing-remitting systemic autoimmune disease caused by loss of immune tolerance, autoantibody production, immune-complex deposition, complement activation, and multiorgan inflammation.
For the exam, SLE is the prototype of a multisystem autoimmune disease:
young woman + photosensitivity/malar rash + non-erosive arthritis + cytopenias + renal findings + ANA/anti-dsDNA + low complement = think SLE.
The most dangerous organ involvement is:
- lupus nephritis
- central nervous system involvement
- severe cytopenias
- antiphospholipid syndrome
- myocarditis/pericarditis
- infection due to immunosuppression
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