Cutaneous lupus erythematosus and its association with systemic activity

Abstract

Background: systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with multiorgan involvement that can affect the skin. There is limited data on the association between skin involvement and systemic disease activity.

Objectives: to describe the different clinical variants of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) in our population and identify the association with SLE and its activity, severity, and the organs and systems involved.

Design: retrospective cross-sectional study.

Materials and methods: patients aged ≥15 years with SLE and/or CLE who attended the dermatology department of Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos San Martín (La Plata), between March 2015 and April 2024 were included. The first consultation for each cutaneous manifestation was recorded.

Results: a total of 93 consultations from patients with SLE and/or CLE were recorded, of which 85 were women and 8 were men. In 67 cases, patients presented cutaneous manifestations of lupus erythematosus. The group with simultaneous specific and nonspecific lesions and the group with three or more distinct skin lesions were statistically associated with disease activity, specifically with a moderate severity level, and were mainly linked to alopecia, hypocomplementemia, anti-dsDNA, and oral ulcers, without an association with organ involvement.

Conclusions: the simultaneous presence of nonspecific and specific skin lesions, as well as 3 or more types of skin lesions, was associated with an increase in the systemic activity of the disease. These findings warrant prospective studies with a larger number of patients.