OBJECTIVE To investigate the incidence of retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to clarify its significance in relation to other clinical manifestations.

RESULTS Retinopathy was found in 7/69 (10%) patients. The findings included haemorrhages, vasculitis, cotton wool spots, and hard exudates, all of which were considered to reflect vascular damage. Retinopathy was found to be associated with the presence of anticardiolipin antibody (p<0.05) and with central nervous system lupus (p<0.01). The patients with retinopathy had higher levels of serum creatinine than the patients without retinopathy (p<0.01). The disease activity of lupus, as assessed by the maximum SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) score of the patients, was also significantly higher in the patients with retinopathy (p<0.03).

CONCLUSION Incidence of retinopathy in SLE was similar to that in previous reports and it may reflect tissue microangiopathy, particularly associated with vasculitis or anticardiolipin antibodies, or both.