LN occurred in 38.3% of SLE patients, frequently as the initial presentation, in a large multi-ethnic inception cohort. Despite current standard of care, nephritis was associated with ESRD and death, and renal insufficiency was linked to lower health-related quality of life. Further advances are required for the optimal treatment of LN.

Objective. To describe the prevalence, characteristics, attribution, and clinical significance of neuropsychiatric (NP) events in an international inception cohort of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.Methods. The study was conducted by the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC). Patients were enrolled within 15 months of fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) SLE classification criteria. All NP events within a predefined enrollment window were identified using the ACR case definitions of 19 NP syndromes. Decision rules were derived to determine the proportion of NP disease attributable to SLE. Clinical significance was determined using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey and the SLICC/ACR Damage Index (SDI).Results. A total of 572 patients (88% female) were recruited, with a mean ؎ SD age of 35 ؎ 14 years. The mean ؎ SD disease duration was 5.2 ؎ 4.2 months. Within the enrollment window, 158 of 572 patients (28%) had at least 1 NP event. In total, there were 242 NP events that encompassed 15 of 19 NP syndromes. The proportion of NP events attributed to SLE varied from 19% to 38% using alternate attribution models and occurred in 6.1-11.7% of patients. Those with NP events, regardless of attribution, had lower scores on the SF-36 and higher SDI scores compared with patients with no NP events.Conclusion. Twenty-eight percent of SLE patients experienced at least 1 NP event around the time of diagnosis of SLE, of which only a minority were attributed to SLE. Regardless of attribution, the occurrence of NP events was associated with reduced quality of life and increased organ damage.Nervous system involvement as part of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is well recognized, although the prevalence is highly variable among studies (1-7). A wide range of neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestations have been described, which span common features such Dr. Hanly

Objectives To determine the frequency, accrual, attribution and outcome of neuropsychiatric (NP) events and impact on quality of life over 3 years in a large inception cohort of SLE patients. Methods The study was conducted by the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics. Patients were enrolled within 15 months of SLE diagnosis. NP events were identified using the ACR case definitions and decision rules were derived to determine the proportion of NP disease attributable to SLE. The outcome of NP events was recorded and patient perceived impact determined by the SF-36. Results There were 1206 patients (89.6% female) with a mean (±SD) age of 34.5±13.2 years. The mean disease duration at enrollment was 5.4±4.2 months. Over a mean follow-up of 1.9±1.2 years 486/1206 (40.3%) patients had ≥1 NP events which were attributed to SLE in 13.0%–23.6% of patients using two a priori decision rules. The frequency of individual NP events varied from 47.1% (headache) to 0% (myasthenia gravis). The outcome was significantly better for those NP events attributed to SLE especially if they occurred within 1.5 years of the diagnosis of SLE. Patients with NP events, regardless of attribution, had significantly lower summary scores for both mental and physical health over the study. Conclusions NP events in SLE patients are variable in frequency, most commonly present early in the disease course and adversely impact patients’ quality of life over time. Events attributed to non-SLE causes are more common than those due to SLE, although the latter have a more favourable outcome.