Outcomes of children born to mothers with systemic lupus erythematosus exposed to hydroxychloroquine or azathioprine.

Objectives: HCQ and AZA are used to control disease activity and reduce risk of flare during pregnancy in patients with SLE. The aim of this study was to determine the outcomes of children born to mothers with SLE exposed to HCQ or AZA during pregnancy and breast-feeding.

Methods: Women attending UK specialist lupus clinics with children ≤17 years old, born after SLE diagnosis, were recruited to this retrospective study.

The efficacy and safety of rituximab in a chart review study of 15 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

In contrast to randomised clinical trials, open-label studies have suggested that B cell depletion by a course of rituximab is associated with a significant clinical benefit. Our aim was to assess the safety and efficacy of rituximab in 15 refractory lupus patients, particularly those with more than one course of therapy. Disease activity was measured by the classic British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) index, anti-DNA antibodies and complement levels.

Birmingham SLE cohort: outcomes of a large inception cohort followed for up to 21 years.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the outcomes and predictors for development of damage in a large inception cohort of SLE patients.

Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal study of a cohort of SLE patients. SLE patients were included if they were recruited within 3 years of achieving the fourth ACR criterion for SLE.

Risk factors for clinical coronary heart disease in systemic lupus erythematosus: the lupus and atherosclerosis evaluation of risk (LASER) study.

Objective: Accelerated atherosclerosis and premature coronary heart disease (CHD) are recognized complications of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but the exact etiology remains unclear and is likely to be multifactorial. We hypothesized that SLE patients with CHD have increased exposure to traditional risk factors as well as differing disease phenotype and therapy-related factors compared to SLE patients free of CHD. Our aim was to examine risk factors for development of clinical CHD in SLE in the clinical setting.

Bilateral retinal vasculitis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and its remission with rituximab therapy.

Severe retinal vasculitis is a rare, but potentially blinding, complication of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We describe here the first reported case of treating severe bilateral SLE-associated retinal vasculitis with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab, a drug which has established its role in rheumatoid arthritis and has shown promise in case series for the treatment of severe SLE that is unresponsive to other therapies. This case suggests that rituximab-induced B-cell depletion may provide an important new therapeutic option for refractory cases of this devastating ocular complication.