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Published on: November 1, 2015
Are Tattoos Safe in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus? Results From a Single-Center Study
Francesco Natalucci1, Fulvia Ceccarelli1, Licia Picciariello1
1Lupus Clinic, Rheumatology, Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Internistiche Anestesiologiche e Cardiovascolari, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy.
Introduction:
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a pleiotropic autoimmune disease with common skin involvement. To date, only one study has investigated tattoos safety in SLE patients.
Objective:
We performed a single-center study to evaluate the development of local and systemic complications after tattooing in a cohort of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Furthermore, we tried to identify SLE patients who had expressed the will to get a tattoo and why they decided not to.
Methods:
Consecutive SLE patients were asked to complete a questionnaire about tattoos, including their number, features, and side effects. Open questions were proposed to non-tattooed patients to describe why they did not have tattoos.
Results:
One hundred ninety-two SLE patients were enrolled [M/F 21/171; median age 41 years (IQR 18)]. Almost 50% of them had at least one tattoo. Seven patients (7.4%) referred adverse reactions to tattoos; interestingly, only one patient experienced a systemic reaction, specifically the occurrence of self-limiting lymphadenopathy. The main reason for not getting a tattoo was the diagnosis of SLE.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest the safety of tattoos in SLE patients, as demonstrated by a low prevalence of mild adverse events.
