Objective:

To describe clinical characteristics and laboratory findings of patients older than 15 years of age diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) that were admitted to hospital with fever and with a final diagnosis of infection, disease flare-up, or both.

Methods:

A retrospective chart review of medical charts was performed to identify patients with a diagnosis of SLE with a fever, admitted to the Emergency Department of Hospital Universitario Clinica San Rafael. The data collected included demographics, SLEDAI (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index) scores, clinical symptoms, laboratory findings, and steroid use. Results analysis was based on three groups (according to final diagnosis at discharge): patients diagnosed with SLE and infection, SLE and disease flare-up, and SLE with both infection and disease flare-up.

Results:

This study included 108 patients with a mean age of 36, of whom 86% were female. The mean SLEDAI score of all patients analysed was 6 (R 1-15), and for patients with SLE with both infection and disease flare-up was 9.5 (R 6-15). No significant differences were found with clinical symptoms and laboratory findings for any group analysed. SLE patients diagnosed with infections took significantly more prednisolone in the last three months before admission (P = .001). No differences were found with other immunosuppressants.

Conclusion:

The use of steroids in the last three months, the SLEDAI score, and time since a SLE diagnosis may be variables used to distinguish between infection and disease flare-up in SLE patients presenting with fever. Clinical symptoms and laboratory results are not useful markers to make this distinction.

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