Lupus Erythematosus
To view the entire topic, please log in or purchase a subscription.
Pediatrics Central™ is an all-in-one application that puts valuable medical information, via your mobile device or the web, in the hands of clinicians treating infants, children, and adolescents. Explore these free sample topics:
-- The first section of this topic is shown below --
Basics
Description
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease characterized by production of antibodies to various components of the cell nucleus and tissues, in conjunction with a variety of clinical manifestations.
Epidemiology
- Age: 20% of lupus begins in childhood, but it is very rare in <5 years old.
- Female-to-male ratio: between 3 to 5:1 (prepubertal) and 9 to 10:1 (postpubertal)
- SLE occurs about 3 times more often in African Americans than Caucasians. It is also more common in Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans.
Incidence
- Peak incidence: between ages 15 and 40 years
- Incidence in children is from 10 to 20 cases per 100,000 children per year.
Prevalence
5,000 to 10,000 children in the United States
Risk Factors
Genetics
- Increased frequency in 1st-degree family members of patients with SLE
- 10% of patients have ≥1 affected relative.
- Concordance rate of 25–50% in monozygotic twins and 5% in dizygotic twins
- Some major histocompatibility complex antigens are associated with increased incidence of lupus, such as HLA-DR2 and DR3 in whites and DR2 and DR7 in blacks.
Etiology
Lupus is an autoimmune disease, with multiple genetic, environmental, and hormonal factors playing a role.
-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please log in or purchase a subscription --
Basics
Description
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease characterized by production of antibodies to various components of the cell nucleus and tissues, in conjunction with a variety of clinical manifestations.
Epidemiology
- Age: 20% of lupus begins in childhood, but it is very rare in <5 years old.
- Female-to-male ratio: between 3 to 5:1 (prepubertal) and 9 to 10:1 (postpubertal)
- SLE occurs about 3 times more often in African Americans than Caucasians. It is also more common in Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans.
Incidence
- Peak incidence: between ages 15 and 40 years
- Incidence in children is from 10 to 20 cases per 100,000 children per year.
Prevalence
5,000 to 10,000 children in the United States
Risk Factors
Genetics
- Increased frequency in 1st-degree family members of patients with SLE
- 10% of patients have ≥1 affected relative.
- Concordance rate of 25–50% in monozygotic twins and 5% in dizygotic twins
- Some major histocompatibility complex antigens are associated with increased incidence of lupus, such as HLA-DR2 and DR3 in whites and DR2 and DR7 in blacks.
Etiology
Lupus is an autoimmune disease, with multiple genetic, environmental, and hormonal factors playing a role.
There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.