Introduction:
Lupus Nephritis (LN) affects 60% of SLE patients with variable clinical manifestations and laboratory findings and treated with immunosuppression. In this study, the clinical, biochemical, histopathological characteristics and outcomes of LN at our center.
Methods:
This ambispective study included biopsy proven LN patients from 2018 to 2023.
Results:
The study cohort of 242 patients with a mean age of 29.57±9.47 years included 87.2% females. Muco-cutaneous symptoms was the most common (78.1%) extra-renal feature and hypertension in 18.6% patients. The mean eGFR was 95.6±38 ml/min/1.73m² and 24-hour urine protein was 2.71±1.97 g/day. Hematuria was seen in 71.1% of patients. The mean SLEDAI score was 17.28±13.81. Class IV LN was present in 40.9% patients, Class V in 23.6%, and Class III in 13.2%. Patients were followed up for a mean duration of 22.86±12.63 months. Cyclophosphamide was used for induction therapy in 34.7% of patients, while 58% received MMF. For maintenance, MMF was used in 84.4% and azathioprine in 11.4%. Complete remission was seen in 50.2% of patients, partial in 20.3%, and no remission in 29.4%. Infections occurred in 26.4%, with ESRD and death observed in 9.5% and 4.7% of patients, respectively.
Conclusions:
The study depicts good outcomes in LN with immunosuppression with considerable burden of infections over the follow-up duration.
I have no potential conflict of interest to disclose.
I did not use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.