The Clinical Features and Outcomes of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Aging Patients
January 2005
in “
Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Nephrology
”
TLDR SLE in ageing patients is less severe and needs careful treatment to avoid excess.
The study investigated systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in 58 ageing patients compared to 76 non-ageing patients. It found that ageing patients had higher incidences of serositis, pulmonary involvement, muscle pain, anemia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia, but lower incidences of fever, malar rash, photosensitivity, mouth ulcerations, alopecia, Raynaud phenomenon, nephropathy, neuropsychiatric manifestations, low complement C_3, and positive anti-ds-DNA and anti-SM antibodies. Ageing patients were more often misdiagnosed initially and included more males. Treatment was more effective in ageing patients, and their causes of death were usually not directly related to SLE. The study concluded that SLE in ageing patients presented atypically, with fewer severe cases, and recommended avoiding excessive treatment.