Unusual presentation of SLE in pediatric patient

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that can affect any organ and may result in significant morbidity and mortality. Childhood-onset c-SLE is a rare disease with an incidence of 0.3-0.9/100,000 children-years and a prevalence of 3.3-8.8/100,000 children.1 Asians, African American, Hispanic and Native Americans have higher frequency of the disease.2,3 Similar to adult SLE, c-SLE affects mainly females with around 80% of the affected children. According to the literature, the median age of onset is 11-12 years and it is rare in children under 5 years of age. The manifestations of c-SLE are variable and most of the times are atypical compared to adult SLE which make the diagnosis of cSLE a challenge to the treating physician.4 This report shows a series of presentation in pediatric patient who finally was diagnosed with SLE.