Treatment of patients with lupus nephritis in both decades. Antihypertensive treatment had to be performed significantly more often in the decade from 1980 to 1989 than in the later decade. Beside this no significant differences in the treatment schedules were found between the groups. Results are given as No (%)
| 1980–1989 (group I) | 1990–2000 (group II) | p Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Intermediate dose = initial dose of 1 mg/kg body weight methylprednisolone/day followed by slow dose tapering; †initial bolus = >250 mg intravenous methylprednisolone/day followed by slow dose tapering. | |||
| Patients (n) | 15 | 41 | |
| Cyclophosphamide | 8 (53) | 25 (61) | NS |
| Oral | 2 | 4 | |
| Bolus | 6 | 15 | |
| Both | 6 | ||
| Corticosteroids | 15 (100) | 41 (100) | NS |
| Intermediate dose* | 9 | 24 | |
| Initial bolus† | 6 | 17 | |
| Azathioprine | 4 (27) | 16 (39) | NS |
| Cyclosporin A | 3 (20) | 4 (10) | NS |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 2 (13) | 11 (27) | NS |
| Mycophenolate mofetil | – | 1 (2) | |
| Antihypertensive treatment in general | 12 (80) | 21 (51) | 0.026 |
| ACE inhibitors | 3 (20) | 11 (27) | NS |
| Statins | 3 (20) | 10 (24) | NS |