%0 Journal Article
%T Flare, Persistently Active Disease, and Serologically Active Clinically Quiescent Disease in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A 2-Year Follow-Up Study
%A Fabrizio Conti
%A Fulvia Ceccarelli
%A Carlo Perricone
%A Francesca Miranda
%A Simona Truglia
%A Laura Massaro
%A Viviana Antonella Pacucci
%A Virginia Conti
%A Izabella Bartosiewicz
%A Francesca Romana Spinelli
%A Cristiano Alessandri
%A Guido Valesini
%J PLOS ONE
%D 2012
%I Public Library of Science (PLoS)
%R 10.1371/journal.pone.0045934
%X Objective Several indices have been proposed to assess disease activity in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Recent studies have showed a prevalence of flare between 28¨C35.3%, persistently active disease (PAD) between 46%¨C52% and serologically active clinically quiescent (SACQ) disease ranging from 6 to 15%. Our goal was to evaluate the flare, PAD and SACQ rate incidence in a cohort of SLE patients over a 2-year follow-up. Methods We evaluated 394 SLE patients. Flare was defined as an increase in SLEDAI-2K score of ¡Ý4 from the previous visit; PAD was defined as a SLEDAI-2K score of ¡Ý4, on >2 consecutive visits; SACQ was defined as at least a 2-year period without clinical activity and with persistent serologic activity. Results Among the 95 patients eligible for the analysis in 2009, 7 (7.3%) had ¡Ý1 flare episode, whereas 9 (9.4%) had PAD. Similarly, among the 118 patients selected for the analysis in 2010, 6 (5%) had ¡Ý1 flare episode, whereas 16 (13.5%) had PAD. Only 1/45 patient (2.2%) showed SACQ during the follow-up. Conclusion We showed a low incidence of flare, PAD and SACQ in Italian SLE patients compared with previous studies which could be partly explained by ethnic differences.
%U http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0045934