Clinical features, damage accrual, and survival in patients with familial systemic lupus erythematosus: data from a multi-ethnic, multinational Latin American lupus cohort.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the clinical features, damage accrual, and survival of patients with familial and sporadic systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: A multi-ethnic, multinational Latin American SLE cohort was studied. Familial lupus was defined as patients with a first-degree SLE relative; these relatives were interviewed in person or by telephone.

Childhood systemic lupus erythematosus in Latin America. The GLADEL experience in 230 children.

To evaluate disease characteristics of childhood onset SLE in Latin America and to compare this information with an adult population in the same cohort of GLADEL. A protocol was designed as a multicenter, multinational, inception cohort of lupus patients to evaluate demographic, clinical, laboratory and serological variables, as well as classification criteria, disease activity, organ damage and mortality. Descriptive statistics, chi square, Fisher's exact test, Student's t test and multiple logistic regression were used to compare childhood and adult onset SLE.