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Previous Volume 353:2282-2284 November 24, 2005 Number 21 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic, life-threatening disease that predominantly affects women of childbearing age. Its pathogenesis includes autoantibody-mediated organ damage and antiphospholipid-antibody–mediated hypercoagulability. Among patients who have lupus the incidence of cardiovascular disease is 10 to 50 times as high as among age-matched control subjects. Optimal therapy for lupus would, with acceptable risk, control immune complex–mediated disease, reduce thrombotic risk, retard the progression of atherosclerosis, and reduce dependence on corticosteroids. Cyclophosphamide, which is currently the mainstay of treatment for severe lupus flares, is associated with a high rate of complications, including gonadal failure, infection, and secondary malignant disease. Physicians . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

From the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor.

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• Grootscholten, C., Berden, J. H. M. (2006). Discontinuation of immunosuppression in proliferative lupus nephritis: is it possible?. Nephrol Dial Transplant 21: 1465-1469 [Full Text]