Hospitalization of individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus: An analysis of 84 patients

We performed a retrospective study of our patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) admitted to the hospital from January 1993 until December 2009.
Patients with SLE attending clinics at the department were analyzed to determine how many of them required hospitalization for causes directly related to their disease. The following information was recorded: age, sex, time course of SLE, lupus involvement profile, number of admissions per patient, reasons for hospital admissions, the outcome including the length of hospital stay, readmission, or death, on medical records and discharge reports for each patient. We also studied the reason for the first admission of patients.

All 84 patients were identified from an electronic database, 75 were admitted at least once in relation to SLE, 68 were female with a mean age of 39 years. We obtained a total of 247 hospitalizations, this represents an average of 2.9 per patient, over 17 years, with a mortality rate of 2%. The median was 2 (1-31). The average length of stay was 13 days. Readmission occurred in 55,7% of all individuals. In order of frequency the reasons for admission were:
With regard to the reason of the first admission, we obtained in order of frequency:
Most SLE patients require hospitalization at any time of their evolution. In our cohort, initial admission related to SLE usually occurs 0-3 years after diagnosis (mean age 30-35 years) and it is basically due to lupus flare without visceral involvement, followed by neurological and renal impairment. However, in subsequent admissions, the most common reason was infection, followed by renal disease and neurological disorder. The presence of lupus nephritis and multisystem involvement increases the rate of readmission. Patients with very active disease at the initial stage should be monitored closely to begin early and aggressive treatment in order to avoid irreversible visceral damage.

No relevant conflicts of interest declared.