Causes of mortality among inpatients with systemic lupus erythematosus in a tertiary care hospital in North India over a 10-year period

Serum interferon-alpha predicts in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalised with acute severe lupus

OBJECTIVES

Dysregulation of interferon-alpha (IFN-α) is considered central to the immunological abnormalities observed in SLE. Short-term mortality during high disease activity in lupus is up to 30%. Adenovirus vector-introduced IFN-α into a lupus-prone mouse causes the development of glomerulonephritis and death within weeks. We studied serum IFN-α as a biomarker of in-hospital mortality in patients of SLE with high disease activity.

METHODS

Serum IFN-α (ELISA) was measured in patients hospitalised for acute severe lupus in a tertiary care rheumatology unit in India and the levels were compared between survivors and non-survivors. Serum IFN-α was compared with traditional clinical and serological markers associated with disease activity to assess which better prognosticates survival.

RESULTS

In a cohort of 90 patients with a mean Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) of 19.3 (±5.5), the mean serum IFN-α was 88±144 pg/dL. Levels were undetectable in patients with inactive disease. SLEDAI, anti double stranded DNA (dsDNA) antibody titres and serum IFN-α levels were higher and serum complement (C3) lower in non-survivors (p=0.003, p=0.017, p<0.001, p=0.029, respectively). Serum IFN-α level of 140 pg/mL had a sensitivity of 86.7%, specificity of 94.6%, positive predictive value of 76% and negative predictive value of 83.3% (p<0.001) in predicting mortality. The area under the curve for predicting in-hospital mortality was 0.25 for C3, 0.72 for dsDNA, 0.77 for SLEDAI and 0.92 for serum IFN-α.

CONCLUSIONS

Serum IFN-α was better in predicting in-hospital mortality compared with conventional measures of disease activity such as anti-dsDNA, complements and SLEDAI.

In-hospital mortality and its predictors in a cohort of SLE from Northern India

BACKGROUND

Mortality in SLE has a bimodal peak with early deaths mainly related to disease activity and infection. Although mortality has reduced over years, it is still two to three folds compared to the general population. In India due to increased burden of infection and limited access to health care, the causes may be different.

METHODS

Retrospective, review of records of all adult SLE patients fulfilling ACR 1997 criteria, who died in hospital between 2000-2019 at a teaching hospital in India was done. In addition, baseline clinical features were extracted for all adult SLE patients seen during this period.Infections were either bacteriologically proven or based on clinicradiological or serologic evidence. Active disease was defined as SLEDAI 2k ≥ 5. Logistic regression was performed to ascertain risk factors for mortality.

RESULTS

A total of 1337 (92% females) patient records were reviewed .The mean age at presentation was 29.9 ± 9 years.60-75% of patients had fever, mucocutaneous disease and arthritis, while nephritis, hematologic, serositis and neurologic involvement was seen in 48.6%, 43.2%, 16% and 10.3% respectively as presenting mainfestations. There were 80 in hospital deaths .Infection was the most common cause of death, with 37 due to infection alone and in 24 disease activity also contributed. Only 18 deaths were due to active disease. Among bacterial infections lung was the most common site and gram negative organism were the most common pathogens. There were 10 deaths due to Tuberculosis(TB) and half of them had disseminated disease. Patients with disease activity had a SLEDAI of 14.8 ± 6.4, with neurological, renal and cardiovascular involvement being the major contributors to mortality in 11, 7 and 6 cases respectively. Higher age at onset, male gender, fever, myositis, neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal involvement, vasculitis, elevated serum creatinine at baseline were independent predictors of death.

CONCLUSION

Infections are the most common cause of in-hospital mortality in SLE and TB still accounts for 15% of deaths related to infection. Vasculitis, myositis, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal involvement emerged as novel predictors of mortality in our cohort.

Trend of Survival of a Cohort of Chinese Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Over 25 Years

Objectives: To revisit the trend of survival of systemic lupus erythematosus in a cohort of Chinese patients over 25 years. Methods: Patients who fulfilled the 1997 ACR criteria for SLE and were followed in our hospital since 1995 were included. Patients were stratified into two groups according to the year of diagnosis: (1) 1995-2004 and (2) 2005-2018. Survival of patients was studied by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Organ damage as assessed by the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) damage index (SDI) and causes of death in the first 10 years of SLE onset was compared between the two groups. Cox regression was used to study factors associated with survival. Results: A total of 1,098 SLE patients were registered in our database. After excluding 157 patients diagnosed outside the time period of 1995-2018, 941 patients were studied (92% women). All were ethnic Chinese. The mean age of SLE onset was 35.1 ± 14.4 years, and the mean duration of observation was 13.1 ± 6.6 years. Seventy-seven (8.2%) patients were lost to follow-up. Groups 1 and 2 consisted of 364 and 577 patients, respectively. The mean SDI score at 10 years of disease onset was significantly higher in group 1 than group 2 patients (1.01 ± 1.43 vs. 0.57 ± 0.94; p < 0.01), particularly in the neuropsychiatric, musculoskeletal, and gonadal domains. Within 10 years of SLE onset, 32 (8.8%) patients in group 1 and 25 (4.3%) patients in group 2 died (p = 0.005). The 5- and 10-year cumulative survival rates were 93.6 and 91.0% in group 1 and 96.5 and 94.2% in group 2 patients, respectively (log-rank test p = 0.048). Infection accounted for more than half of the deaths in both groups. More group 1 than group 2 patients died of vascular events, but the difference was not statistically significant. Cox regression showed that the age of SLE onset and damage score accrued at 10 years, but not the time period in which SLE was diagnosed, were significantly associated with mortality. Conclusions: The improvement in survival of our SLE patients is probably related to the accrual of less organ damage in the past 15 years.

T cell subsets and immunoglobulin G levels are associated with the infection status of systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, autoimmune disorder that affects nearly all organs and tissues. As knowledge about the mechanism of SLE has increased, some immunosuppressive agents have become routinely used in clinical care, and infections have become one of the direct causes of mortality in SLE patients. To identify the risk factors indicative of infection in SLE patients, a case control study of our hospital's medical records between 2011 and 2013 was performed. We reviewed the records of 117 SLE patients with infection and 61 SLE patients without infection. Changes in the levels of T cell subsets, immunoglobulin G (IgG), complement C3, complement C4, globulin, and anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-ds-DNA) were detected. CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ T cell levels were significantly lower and CD8+ T cell levels were significantly greater in SLE patients with infection than in SLE patients without infection. Additionally, the concentrations of IgG in SLE patients with infection were significantly lower than those in SLE patients without infection. However, complement C3, complement C4, globulin, and anti-ds-DNA levels were not significantly different in SLE patients with and without infection. Therefore, clinical testing for T cell subsets and IgG is potentially useful for identifying the presence of infection in SLE patients and for distinguishing a lupus flare from an acute infection.

Pleuropulmonary involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus from a Latin American inception cohort (GLADEL)

Objectives

The objectives of this study were to examine the demographic and clinical features associated with the occurrence of pleuropulmonary manifestations, the predictive factors of their occurrence and their impact on mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.

Materials and methods

The association of pleuropulmonary manifestations with demographic and clinical features, the predictive factors of their occurrence and their impact on mortality were examined in GLADEL patients by appropriate univariable and multivariable analyses.

Results

At least one pleuropulmonary manifestation occurred in 421 of the 1480 SLE patients (28.4%), pleurisy being the most frequent (24.0%). Age at SLE onset ≥30 years (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.10–1.83), the presence of lower respiratory tract infection (OR 3.19; 95% CI 2.05–4.96), non-ischemic heart disease (OR 3.17; 95% CI 2.41–4.18), ischemic heart disease (OR 3.39; 95% CI 2.08–5.54), systemic (OR 2.00; 95% CI 1.37–2.91), ocular (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.16–2.14) and renal manifestations (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.09–1.83) were associated with pleuropulmonary manifestations, whereas cutaneous manifestations were negatively associated (OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.29–0.76). Non-ischemic heart disease (HR 2.24; 95% CI 1.63–3.09), SDI scores ≥1 (OR 1.54; 95% CI 1.10–2.17) and anti-La antibody positivity (OR 2.51; 95% CI 1.39–4.57) independently predicted their subsequent occurrence. Cutaneous manifestations were protective of the subsequent occurrence of pleuropulmonary manifestations (HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.43–0.90). Pleuropulmonary manifestations independently contributed a decreased survival (HR: 2.79 95% CI 1.80–4.31).

Conclusion

Pleuropulmonary manifestations are frequent in SLE, particularly pleuritis. Older age, respiratory tract infection, cardiac, systemic and renal involvement were associated with them, whereas cutaneous manifestations were negatively associated. Cardiac compromise, SDI scores ≥1 and anti-La positivity at disease onset were predictive of their subsequent occurrence, whereas cutaneous manifestations were protective. They independently contributed to a decreased survival in these patients.

Systematic Review of Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Focus on Outcome and Therapy

BACKGROUND

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) associated with high mortality. Although survival and its associated clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic features have been reported for case reports and series, they have not been systematically reviewed.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this systematic review was to assess survival of episodes of DAH in SLE over 3 decades and to categorize trends in therapies, commonly utilized to treat this disorder.

RESULTS

Overall, SLE patients survived 61% of 174 DAH episodes representing 140 patients. Episode survival was 67% in the time period from 2000 to 2013. Corticosteroids were nearly universally used therapeutically, and cyclophosphamide was used in 55%. Plasmapheresis was used in 31% and did not appear to be associated with survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage in SLE still carries a high risk of mortality; however, survival trends appear to demonstrate an increase from approximately 25% in the 1980s to 67% in the current decade. Increased use of cyclophosphamide appears to be associated with better survival, whereas plasmapheresis does not appear to influence outcome. Although these results need to be interpreted with caution because they are not derived from randomized controlled trials, we believe this represents the largest reported compilation of survival data in DAH associated with SLE.

Clinical and immunological characteristics in 552 systemic lupus erythematosus patients in a southern province of China

AIM

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Hakka populations.

METHODS

We studied the demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics in a cohort of 552 SLE patients diagnosed at the Rheumatology Department in MeiZhou People's Hospital from January 2008 to December 2012. There were 495 women and 57 men (8.7 : 1) with a mean age of 35.3 years (range 12-78 years). The mean age at disease onset and the mean disease duration were 31.8 ± 14.4 years and 3.3 ± 2.8 years, respectively.

RESULTS

The most common clinical manifestations were arthritis (61.6%), followed by malar rash (52.7%), photosensitivity (22.8%), mouth ulcers (17.0%) and discoid lupus (14.7%). The prevalence was 46.7% for nephritis (by biopsy), 18.3% for pleuritis, 15.6% for pericarditis and 4.9% for neuropsychiatric manifestations. The most common hematological manifestations were anemia (63.8%), followed by leucopenia (29.0%) and thrombocytopenia (14.9%). Antinuclear antibodies were detected in 99.8% of patients, followed by anti-double-stranded DNA (81.3%), anti-SSA (Sjögren's syndrome antigen A)/Ro (58.7%), anti-ribonucleoprotein (36.8%), anti-Sm (35.7%), and anti-SSB/La (15.0%). Anti-cardiolipin immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM were detected in 18.3% and 14.1% of patients, respectively. Active disease and infections were the two major causes of death.

CONCLUSION

The clinical and immunological characteristics of the SLE patients in our study place our population in the middle of the spectrum between other Asian and Caucasian populations.

Rheumatology in India--quo vadis?

Rheumatology has been a neglected subspecialty in India. A staggering patient load, a severely inadequate number of trained rheumatology specialists, therapeutic nihilism and limited advocacy are some of the critical challenges that confront rheumatology care, and possibly explain the high rates of reliance on complementary and alternative medicines in India. Disease spectrum and treatment patterns are not remarkably different from those in other countries, but biologic agents have limited use and are administered for short periods only. Consequently, outcomes in India do not yet match those reported in developed countries. Furthermore, the high prevalence of infectious diseases continues to be a major contributor to mortality in patients with rheumatic disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Several tropical diseases with rheumatic manifestations are relevant in India, including chikungunya, brucellosis, leptospirosis, dengue and melioidosis. To address the many problems with rheumatology care in India, curricular reforms, capacity building, patient education and political support are sorely needed.

Survival in systemic lupus erythematosus, 1995–2010. A prospective study in a Danish community

Objective

The objective of this paper is to investigate survival and causes of death in a Danish lupus population.

Methods

Two hundred and fifteen SLE patients (94% Caucasians) were followed prospectively for up to 16 years. Thirty-eight patients died. Survival rate and causes of death were analysed.

Results

Overall standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 2.2. Peak values were recorded for patients aged 20–29 (SMR 21.1). Cumulated survival rates at one, five, 10 and 15 years were 98.6%, 93.6%, 86.5% and 73.0%, respectively. The most common causes of death were cardiovascular events (32%), respiratory system disease (16%) and malignancies (13%). Deaths due to infections and active SLE were rare and predominated within the first seven years after diagnosis and before age 40, while cardiovascular deaths prevailed after 20 years’ follow-up.

Conclusion

This study shows that despite progress in lupus management, including direct access to specialized hospital care and increased use of hydroxychloroquine, mortality in lupus patients is still increased. Main causes of death were active disease and infections among the young and newly diagnosed, while cardiovascular deaths prevailed in longstanding disease.

Rare cause of seizures, renal failure, and gangrene in an 83-year-old diabetic male

We report an 83-year-old diabetic male who presented with acute-onset renal failure, seizures, psychosis, pneumonia, and right foot gangrene. Investigations revealed thrombocytopenia, CSF lymphocytosis, ANA and dsDNA positivity, hypocomplementemia, and pneumonitis following which he was treated with pulse methylprednisolone. He was treated for Pseudomonas-related ventilator-associated pneumonia, candiduria, and E. coli-related bedsore infection prior to discharge. He was discharged at request and died 17 days later due to a respiratory infection.