Characterisation of patients with lupus nephritis at the time of kidney biopsy. In comparison with the decade from 1980 to 1989, in the decade from 1990 to 2000 there was a lower rate of proteinuria, renal failure (as determined by the number of patients with creatinine values >110 μmol/l) and arterial hypertension at the time of the histological diagnosis of lupus nephritis
| 1980–1989 (group I) | 1990–2000 (group II) | p Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Arterial hypertension was defined as a diastolic blood pressure >90 mm Hg during three consecutive measurements; †anaemia was defined as haemoglobin <120 g/l (women) or <130 g/l (men). | |||
| Patients (n) | 15 | 41 | |
| Sex (M/F) | 13/2 | 32//9 | |
| Median age | 29 (19–67) | 35 (18–70) | NS |
| Arterial hypertension (%)* | 6 (40) | 11 (27) | NS |
| Median serum creatinine (μmol/l) | 110 (50–430) | 70 (30–250) | NS |
| Creatinine >110 μmol/l at time of presentation (%) | 6 (40) | 7 (17) | 0.02 |
| Median proteinuria (g/l) | 46 (24–212) | 17 (2–90) | 0.008 |
| Proteinuria >3 g/day (%) | 9 (60) | 14 (34) | 0.03 |
| Anaemia (%)† | 5 (33) | 25 (61) | 0.03 |
| Median dsDNA antibodies (U/ml) | 102 (8.7–206) | 75 (5.9–1439) | NS |
| Median SLEDAI | 13 (11–26) | 16 (8–28) | NS |
| C3c < normal (90–180 mg/l) (%) | 9 (60) | 23 (56) | NS |