Baseline demographics, clinical characteristics, laboratory results and treatment of newly diagnosed paediatric systemic lupus erythematosus patients up to the time of the dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry study
| Parameters of interest | Total cohort (N=80) |
|---|---|
| Demographics | |
| Female:male | 66:14 |
| Median age at diagnosis (years (range)) | 14.2 (5.0–17.7) |
| Family history of osteoporosis (%)* | 10/63 (16) |
| Ethnicity (number of patients (%)) | |
| Caucasian | 29 (36) |
| Asian | 29 (36) |
| African–American | 11 (14) |
| Others | 11 (14) |
| Baseline characteristics | |
| Mean BMI z score (SD) | −0.07 (1.0) |
| Mean BMI (kg/m2 (SD)) | 19.8 (3.1) |
| Pubertal status | |
| Prepubertal patients (%) | 19 (24) |
| Pubertal patients (%) | 61 (76) |
| Menstrual status (n=66) | |
| Premenarche (%) | 22 (33) |
| Regular menstrual cycles (%) | 39 (59) |
| Secondary amenorrhea (%) | 5 (8) |
| Any major organ involvement | 30 (38) |
| Central nervous system | 11 (14) |
| Renal† | 21 (26) |
| Class II | 0 |
| Class III/IV (proliferative nephritis) | 15 |
| Class V | 3 |
| Mixed classes | 2 |
| Disease activity measures | |
| Median SLEDAI at diagnosis (range) | 11 (2–43) |
| Median ECLAM at diagnosis (range) | 5.5 (0–11) |
| Treatment | |
| None (%) | 16 (20) |
| Steroids | |
| No steroid (%) | 22 (28) |
| Intravenous methylprednisone (%) | 10 (13) |
| Median cumulative dose of steroids (mg/kg (range)) | 21.5 (0–115.5) |
| Hydroxychloroquine (%) | 27 (34) |
| Any immunosuppressant therapy | 19 (24) |
| Azathioprine (%) | 13 (16) |
| Cyclophosphamide (%) | 4 (5) |
| Mycophenolate mofetil (%) | 0 (0) |
| Methotrexate (%) | 0 (0) |
| Cyclosporine (%) | 0 (0) |
| Rituximab (%) | 2 (3) |
| Laboratory parameters | |
| Mean ESR (mm/h (SD)) (normal 1–10 mm/h) | 56 (43) |
| Mean C3 (g/l (SD)) (normal 0.77–1.43 g/l) | 0.78 (0.45) |
| Mean C4 (g/l (SD)) (normal 0.07–0.40 g/l) | 0.14 (0.12) |
| Mean creatinine (µmol/l (SD)) (normal <98 μmol/l) | 62 (21) |