Background: Lupus nephritis has emerged as a major factor in the overall survival of patients and may help to explain the poor prognosis associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in black patients.
Methods: The authors reviewed the clinical and epidemiologic features of lupus nephritis in 130 women and 10 men who were mainly of African descent.
Results: The mean (standard deviation) age at diagnosis of SLE was 27.9 (10.3) years. The majority of patients (75%) developed renal involvement within 1 year of presentation with SLE. The most frequent extrarenal manifestations were arthritis (67%), malar rash (44%), serositis (41%), and neurologic disorders (30%). Class IV nephritis was the most common glomerular lesion, accounting for 49% of the biopsies, with class II accounting for a further 23%. Proteinuria was a common feature at presentation in all classes. Nephrotic range proteinuria was most common in classes III and IV. Prevalence of nephrotic range proteinuria was similar in classes II (23%) and V (19%). Hematuria occurred in more than one half of the patients with classes II, IV, and V disease. Fifty-nine percent of the patients had renal impairment at the time of renal biopsy. The prevalence of hypertension, the nephritic syndrome, and renal impairment was significantly higher in class IV patients compared with all the other groups. Factors that were significantly associated with classes III and IV disease compared with the other classes on univariate analysis were renal impairment, proteinuria (but not in nephrotic range), low C3 levels, and anemia.
Conclusions: The clinical features of the study patients were similar to those of patients belonging to other ethnic groups, but a high proportion of the study patients had renal impairment at the time of renal biopsy.