SLE: features

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It typically presents in early adulthood and is more common in women and people of Afro-Caribbean origin.

General features

• fatigue
• fever
• mouth ulcers
• lymphadenopathy

Skin

• malar (butterfly) rash: spares nasolabial folds
• discoid rash: scaly, erythematous, well demarcated rash in sun-exposed areas. Lesions may progress to become pigmented and hyperkeratotic before becoming atrophic
• photosensitivity
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• livedo reticularis
• non-scarring alopecia

Musculoskeletal

• arthralgia
• non-erosive arthritis

Cardiovascular

• myocarditis

Respiratory

• pleurisy
• fibrosing alveolitis

Renal

• proteinuria
• glomerulonephritis (diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis is the most common type)

Neuropsychiatric

• anxiety and depression
• psychosis
• seizures