The difference between CastleÂman disease and Castleman-like disease may be subtle, but it comes with significant ramifications. Case Presentation This case involves a pregnant 19-year-old woman who presents over multiple hospitalizations with concerns for systemic lupus erythematosus and macrophage activation syndrome. At 36 weeks’ gestation, the patient’s weight had dropped from 215 lbs. to 170…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Pediatric rheumatologists and nephrologists appear to differ in their treatment choices for children who have lupus nephritis (LN), with rheumatologists more likely to prescribe rituximab, results of a small survey suggest. “This study highlights the importance of collaborative effort in developing CTPs (Consensus Treatment Plans) for pediatric LN,” the authors write in…
The incidence of drug-induced lupus continues to rise as clinicians expand their therapeutic armamentarium. An estimated 15,000–30,000 cases of drug-induced lupus occur every year in the U.S. alone.1 It is a well-known, but rare, complication of commonly used medications, such as anti-hypertensive, anti-arrhythmic and anti-epileptic drugs, as well as biologic and immune checkpoint therapies.2,3 The…
PRSYM—At the 2021 Pediatric Rheumatology Symposium (PRSYM), a session on lupus provided a robust discussion of recent advances in lupus treatments and genetic discoveries in pediatric rheumatology. Lupus Nephritis The first speaker was Shaun Jackson, MD, PhD, a pediatric nephrologist and rheumatologist and associate professor at Seattle Children’s. His presentation focused on state-of-the-art treatments in…
Research has shown voclosporin in combination with MMF and low-dose steroids benefits patients with lupus nephritis, significantly increasing the speed of remission. New data from an ongoing extension study demonstrate a positive risk/benefit profile.
Pulmonary manifestations in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) include pleuritis, acute pneumonitis, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension, shrinking lung syndrome and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH). DAH is a rare, but devastating, complication of SLE, with high mortality rates. The incidence of DAH in SLE ranges from 0.6% to 5.4%, but the mortality rate…
Patients with the rare DNASE1L3 biallelic null mutation present with childhood-onset disease that resembles lupus. This observation prompted research into how abnormalities in the enzyme DNASE1L3 are associated with lupus, with researchers finding autoantibody-mediated impairment of DNASE1L3 activity may be a common non-genetic mechanism leads to anti-dsDNA autoreactivity in SLE.
A recent study demonstrated that exposure to type I interferon contributes to the pathogenesis of SLE via the metabolic rewiring of CD8+ T cells, which promotes cell death.
Platelets may be a key source of mitochondrial antigens in systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a recent study.
Can machine learning aid clinicians in diagnosing systemic lupus erythematosus? Adamichou et al. designed an algorithm that uses classical features of lupus to simulate medical reasoning and identify lupus early in the disease process. They were able to validate the algorithm, which demonstrated high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy.