Chronic cutaneous lupus: a 10-year retrospective study in the Posadas Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Lupus eritematosus (LE) is a multifactorial inflammatory autoimmune chronic disease that may involve many differents organs and can be triggered by multiple factors in genetically predisposed individuals.

Objectives: Analyse in the different clinical forms of Chronic Cutaneous Lupus (CCL) distribution by sex, age, time of evolution since the diagnosis, location of the lesions, presence of antibodies and systemic involvement, and compare the results with the literature.

Design: Retrospective and descriptive study.

Methods: We reviewed clinical histories of patients with both clinical and histophatological diagnosis of CCL who consulted the Dermatology Service between January 2, 2007 and July 31, 2017.

Results: We evaluated 48 patients, 43 women and 5 men, female predominance was 8,6:1. Discoid Lupus (DL) was the most frequent clinical form 87,5%, the mayority was the localized variety and only 2 cases with generalized DL. Secondly, 3 patients were diagnosed with lupus panniculitis (6,25%). The types tumid, chilblain and lupus lichen corresponded only to 1 patient for each clinical form. The age of presentation varied between 11 and 81 years, with an average of 37,81. 12 patients were positive for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and 10 had systemic involvement.

Conclusions: Our findings were similar to those previously published, except the female predominance 8,6:1, four times higher in our patients.