The Clinicopathologic Findings and Prognostic Factors Related to Death of Patients with Lupus Nephritis

Chin, Ho Jun; Kim, Suhng Gwon

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Of 339 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) observed at Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul, 221 fulfilled criteria for lupus nephritis. We evaluated the clinicopathologic findings, outcomes and prognostic factors of patients' survival.
METHODS
We searched computer system of our center using disease code for SLE from January 1973 to January 1995 and found 339 SLE patients among whom there were 221 definite lupus nephritis patients. We retrospectively reviewed medical records and investigated the influence of multiple prognostic factors on patients' survival using Cox hazard function analysis.
RESULTS
Of 221 patients, 89.6% were female. The mean age of onset of SLE was 27.7+/-10.4 years and the mean follow-up duration was 42.5+/- 40.2 months. The most frequent symptoms at diagnosis were skin manifestations. Hypertension was diagnosed in 21.7% of patients and 21.6% had serum creatinine greater than 1.4mg/dL. Overall, 37.7% were nephrotic. Renal biopsy performed on 159 patients showed the following World Health Organization Class distribution : Class I 1.3%, class II 8.8%, class III 6.3%, class IV 65.4%, class V 13.2%, class IV+V 5.0%. Remission of nephritis was observed in 31.3% of patients. At the last follow-up period, there were 23 patients with deteriorated renal function among 168 patients and renal failure developed in 3.2%. Twenty eight patients died, primarily from infection, with 86.2% and 78.3% 5-year and 10-year survival rates, respectively. Initial presence of renal insufficiency(serum creatinine>or=1.4mg/dL) and treatment with prednisolone only were most important in predicting patients' survival. Combination treatment of high dose prednisolone and cytotoxic drug(azathioprine, oral cyclophosphamide, or iv cyclophosphamide) appeared to be beneficial for nephritis. Treatment modality was only independent risk factor associated with lower survival probability.
CONCLUSION
The characteristics of our patients were not so different from those of others. Treatment modality and renal function were important predictors of fatality. Treatment with high dose prednisolone and cytotoxic drug improved the clinical outcome of lupus nephritis, as compared with prednisolone alone.