Systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus in children and adolescents (pSLE) is a multi-system autoimmune disease with a great variability in disease presentation and course. The diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is based on the clinical and laboratory features consistent with this illness in the absence of another autoimmune disease that could explain the findings. At time of diagnosis of pSLE, most but not all patients have at least four of the American College of Rheumatology Classification Criteria for SLE (Table 1) [1]. This article summarizes available epidemiologic data, clinical patterns, approaches to investigation and treatment, and recent outcome data.