Serial Pulmonary Function Testing in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Fvc, Fev1 and Fev1/Fvc % in Female SLE Patients and Their Relationship with Duration of the Disease

“…Almost similar findings were observed by several investigators from different countries 11,12,19,20 . The exact mechanism of development of pulmonary lesion in SLE is not clear.…”

“…Several investigators of different countries abroad reported lower spirometric lung variables in SLE patients 6,8,9,10, which might be decreased with duration of disease 11,12,13 .…”

“…Many researchers have investigated pulmonary functions in this group of patient abroad 5,8,9,10,11,12,15 . In our country, several researchers studied on SLE 3,16 on different aspects of SLE, such as SLE in pregnancy and coetaneous involvement.…”

Respiratory involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus

“…A sequential evaluation study of pulmonary function was carried out for a duration of two to seven years in 25 SLE patients aged between 15 and 68 years (35 ± 15 years, mean ± SD), including eight smokers who were clinically free of respiratory symptoms at the initial evaluation [38]. The first evaluation revealed restriction (total lung capacity 76 ± 3%) and deterioration in CO transfer (DLCO 72 ± 4 %), both moderate.…”

“…Initial damage to the small airways (defined as MEFV 25-75 below 60% of predicted value) is frequent (24%), with no difference between patients with lupus and the control group (patients free of any respiratory disease and matched for smoking) [56]. However, surveillance of pulmonary function tests for two to seven years revealed a progressive decline in values indicating small airways damage with time, independent of smoking [38,58].…”