El lupus eritematoso sistémico (LES) es una enferme­dad autoinmune, prototipo del daño múltiple de órganos y sistemas mediada por inmunocomplejos, tan heterogénea en sus manifestaciones y curso evolutivo que ha llevado a postular si acaso en lugar de tratarse de un único proceso con múltiples facetas de expresión clínica pudiera ser antes bien un síndrome con diversos sustratos genéticos. 

Se reporta un caso de paciente con lupus quien presenta un rápido progreso de cuadriparesia en el contexto de enfermedad renal. La investigación reveló hipopotasemia refractaria severa, acidosis metabólica y orina alcalina sugestiva de acidosis tubular renal distal.

Background: Self-efficacy for managing chronic conditions assesses the confidence a person has on the ability of successfully perform specific tasks related to a chronic condition in several different situations. Self-efficacy is considered one of the most important modifiable factors in educational interventions that enhance Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients’ mental health status. Low disease self-efficacy is associated with SLE morbidity. Objectives: To determine the association of several domains of self-efficacy for managing chronic conditions and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in SLE patients.

Background: Because most patients with SLE are in their productive-age years, the ability to maintain a gainful employment is fundamental for both, the patient and society at large. It is thus quite important to determine the work and non-work factors that are associated with work productivity impairment in these patients. Objectives: To determine the factors associated with absenteeism (percentage of the time missed from scheduled work-time over the preceding 7 days, due to SLE), presenteeism (percentage of time from scheduled work-time where productivity was impaired while patient was at work, over the preceding 7 days, due to SLE) and overall work impairment (combination of absenteeism and presenteeism) in patients with SLE.

Objective: To determine the impact of homocysteine levels on damage accrual in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted in consecutive patients seen every 6 months at our Rheumatology Department since 2012. Patients with available homocysteine levels and who had at least one subsequent visit were included. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models were done to determine if homocysteine levels were predictive of damage accrual as per the SLICC Damage Index (SDI). The multivariable model was adjusted for pertinent variables (age at diagnosis, gender, socioeconomic status, disease duration, disease activity (SLEDAI), Framingham score, antimalarial and immunosuppressive drug use, average daily dose, and exposure time to prednisone (PDN)). Results: One hundred forty-five patients were included; their mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 4...