Initial Clinical Presentation of Systematic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Patients in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital

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Background. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by highly diverse and nonspecific symptoms with clinical presentations involving more than one organ system which often leads to delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis. This study aims to understand patients’ initial clinical presentation in order to enhance early detection and establish an early diagnosis. Methods. This descriptive cross-sectional quantitative study included patients who commenced their visits to the Rheumatology Clinic at RSCM from May 2021-December 2022. A consecutive sampling method was used, and data were analyzed for age, gender, symptom onset, as well as patients' initial clinical presentations (SPSS 25.0). Results. Out of 231 subjects, 96.1% were females. A total of 38.1% of the patients belonged to the 21-30 age group, and symptom onset was most commonly observed in the 0-1 year age group, accounting for 67.5%. Approximately 24.2% of the patients exhibited constitutional manifestations with involvement of other organs, including musculoskeletal (87.4%), mucocutaneous (84%), hematologic (3.,5%), renal (33.3%), and neuropsychiatric (8.7%) systems. Lungs, heart, blood vessels, gastrointestinal and hepatic systems, eyes, obstetric, and endocrine involvements were not found in this study. Among the 231 subjects, 44.2% of them had simultaneous involvement of two organs, which emerged as their initial clinical presentation. Conclusion. Musculoskeletal and mucocutaneous involvement were most commonly observed as the initial clinical presentation of SLE patients at RSCM, followed by hematologic, renal, and neuropsychiatric involvement.