Systemic lupus erythematosus in black South Africans

The clinical features, laboratory findings, course of disease and response(s) to therapy of 30 black South Africans with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are described. This is the largest collection of such cases yet assembled in a single study and was noteworthy also for the development in 1 patient of bilateral central retinal artery occlusion and in 5 patients of pulmonary tuberculosis; for the sensitivity of serum gammaglobulin levels as an indicator of disease activity; and for the ineffectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in 9 of 17 patients with arthritis. It is concluded that SLE is not as uncommon in black South Africans as was believed hitherto.