Lupus erythematosus tumidus as a separate subtype of cutaneous lupus erythematosus: reply from authors

Abstract

Conflicts of interest: none declared. Madam, We thank Dr Mutasim for his valuable comments and are grateful for the opportunity to clarify certain aspects of our study investigating lupus erythematosus tumidus (LET) as a separate subtype of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE).1 Dr Mutasim remarks that the study ‘did not add anything new to what is already known about tumid lupus’, that it did not ‘accomplish a resolution to the objectives stated by the authors’, and that the objective of the paper, to evaluate ‘whether LET can be distinguished as a separate entity in the classification system of the disease, … seems to be ill conceived’. He further notes that the ‘results could not have been otherwise as the authors have preselected patients whom they have identified as having LET prior to their entry into the study’. The of concern Dr Mutasim is comprehensible if our objective would have been to define LET as its own entity; however, this has already been shown by several groups.2 In our study, we sought to investigate if this existing entity of LET can be considered a separate subtype in the classification of CLE and be distinguished from other forms of CLE.1 Therefore, it was necessary to include patients with LET that had been diagnosed prior to inclusion in the study and to compare with other disease subtypes, such as subacute CLE (SCLE) and discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) as the most common form of chronic CLE (CCLE).