A Cross-Sectional Study of Clinical and Immunological Profile of SLE Patients from a Tertiary Care Center in the Sub Himalayan Region of Northern India

Abstract

Introduction: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a disease of thousand faces whose manifestations vary with the interplay of genetic, ethnic, and host factors along with environmental exposures and geographical conditions. Since the first case of SLE reported in India in 1955, many case series have been published from various centers depicting Clinical and Immunological features in the Indian population. This study was undertaken to study the clinical and immunological profile in a tertiary care center in the sub-Himalayan region of northern India. Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional retrospective study conducted at a tertiary care center in the hilly northern state of Himachal Pradesh over a period of 1 year; from 1st June 2017 to 31st May 2018. The records of all patients admitted in the study period with the department of medicine and diagnosed with SLICC 2012 classification criteria were studied to abstract the Clinical and Immunological profile of patients. Results: A total of sixty-nine patients were included in the study. 96% of the subjects were female patients, and 84 % of the patients were in the reproductive age group of 20 – 40 years. Mucocutaneous manifestations were most commonly seen in nearly 89 % of patients followed by musculoskeletal involvement in about 71 %. Hematological involvement was more frequent than reported in the literature. Lupus Nephritis was diagnosed in about 30 % of the patients. Fatigue and synovitis were the most common features, followed by oral ulcers and Acute cutaneous lupus. ANA and ds DNA positivity was 98.5 and 72.4 % respectively. Six cases of MCTD were d=found in the study group. Conclusion: In hospitalized SLE patients admitted in a tertiary care center of the northern hilly state, females of reproductive age group constituted the majority of patients. Mucocutaneous, Musculoskeletal, hematological, and renal involvement was most prevalent. Keywords: SLE, cross-sectional study, Mucocutaneous involvement, Renal Biopsy, Hilly area.