Treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus

Reports on a variety of therapies for systemic lupus erythematosus have been published over the past year. Most of these are single case reports or open studies. As reported last year in this journal, the potential uses of intravenous gamma globulin and plasmapheresis continue to be explored. The use of cyclophosphamide for nonrenal manifestations follows studies last year of its use for lupus nephritis. No major double-blind studies of therapy for lupus nephritis were published; however, the course of lupus patients receiving dialysis or grafts was the subject of three interesting studies. An interesting study on the ability of hydroxychloroquine to prevent disease exacerbations was also published. In summary, the reports of therapy over the past year represent variations on themes. The use of new agents will most likely be based on improvements in our understanding of the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus.