Abstract
Objectives To study whether clinical remission (CR) and Low Lupus Disease Activity State (LLDAS) are achievable goals in childhood-onset SLE. Methods Data on medication use and disease activity were prospectively collected. LLDAS was defined as Safety of Estrogen in Lupus Erythematosus National Assesment-SLE disease Activity Index (SELENA-SLEDAI) ≤4 with zero scores for renal, Central Nervous System (CNS), serositis, vasculitis and constitutional components, no increase in any SLEDAI component since the previous visit, PGA ≤1, and prednisone dose ≤7.5 mg/day. CR on treatment (Tx) was defined as a Physician Global Assessment <0.5, SELENA-SLEDAI=0, with prednisone ≤5 mg/day and maintenance treatment with immunosuppressives. CR off Tx was the same but without prednisone or other immunosuppressive usage. Results 51 patients (700 visits) were included. Within 3 months after diagnosis, 94.1% of children were treated with hydroxychloroquine and 60.8% with prednisone. Prednisone dosage decreased from a median of 0.74 mg/kg/day at diagnosis to 0.44 mg/kg/day at 3 months and 0.16 mg/kg/day at 6 months after diagnosis. Use of mycophenolate mofetil increased from 25.5% to 56.9% within 6 months after diagnosis. All children achieved LLDAS (median 186 days) and 72.5% remained in LLDAS >50% of time. 52.9% children achieved CR on Tx, and only 21.6% children achieved CR off Tx. Conclusions LLDAS is an attainable treat-to-target goal in contrast to CR on and off Tx. Even more, LLDAS can be reached with limited use of corticosteroids with early introduction of immunosuppressives.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e000571 |
| Journal | Lupus Science and Medicine |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Dec 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding This work was made possible by the support of the Sophia Children’s Hospital Fund, NVLE (Dutch patient organisation for Lupus, APS, Scleroderma and MCTD) and Dutch Arthritis Society. The research was performed within the framework of the Erasmus Postgraduate School Molecular Medicine. Competing interests None declared. Patient consent for publication Parental/guardian consent obtained. Ethics approval The Erasmus Medical Center Ethics Committee (MEC-2019-0412) approved the study and written informed consent was obtained from patients and/ or parents. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. Author note please add my orcid ID as well: sylvia kamphuis orcid ID 0000-0002-1964-352X Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise. Open access This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Funding Information:
This work was made possible by the support of the Sophia Children?s Hospital Fund, NVLE (Dutch patient organisation for Lupus, APS, Scleroderma and MCTD) and Dutch Arthritis Society. The research was performed within the framework of the Erasmus Postgraduate School Molecular Medicine.
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