Renal involvement in childhood lupus: a study from Kolkata, India

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-system disease of autoimmune origin. The relative incidences of the various manifestations in children with SLE are significantly different from adults and among different age-groups of children. To analyze the characteristics of childhood lupus nephritis (LN), we prospectively followed-up 23 cases of pediatric LN, diagnosed over a period of five years, in the pediatric rheumatology clinic at the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India. The resultant database was analyzed using standard statistical methods. Of all childhood lupus cases treated in our clinic over the last five years (n = 42), 54.7% (n = 23) had renal involvement. This study has tried to delineate the disease trends of childhood lupus from Eastern India. Certain important trends have emerged that are different from other contemporary Indian and International observations.