The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / The ACR, EULAR Partner to Refine Classification System, Develop New SLE Criteria

The ACR, EULAR Partner to Refine Classification System, Develop New SLE Criteria

October 17, 2017 • By Thomas R. Collins

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF
Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

MADRID—Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) experts in North America and Europe are working together to refine the classification system for the disease, with the goal of producing a new set of criteria that is simpler to use and more scientifically rigorous than any classification approach previously published, speakers involved with the process said at the 2017 Annual European Congress on Rheumatology (EULAR).

You Might Also Like
  • New Classification Criteria for SLE: Proposed ACR/EULAR Criteria aim for high sensitivity & specificity
  • New SLE Criteria Under Development: A Joint Effort of the ACR & EULAR
  • New Lupus Classification Criteria Presented at ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting
Explore This Issue
October 2017
Also By This Author
  • Immune System Targeted for Research into New Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatments

The system, a joint effort between the ACR and EULAR, is slated to include criteria in clinical and immunological domains, and validation of draft criteria is ongoing. Presentations at the conference pointed to the challenges involved, and showed in detail the lengths to which the experts have gone to produce reliable criteria and how they’ve used technology as a critical tool.1

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The nature of SLE makes it a notoriously difficult disease to classify, said Martin Aringer, MD, chief of rheumatology at University Medical Center Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden, Germany, who is helping lead the effort. “Multi-organ, multi-antibody disease is challenging for classification,” he said, speaking at a scientific session.

The 1982 ACR classification criteria, which were updated in 1997, require four of 11 criteria to be met for an SLE classification. These criteria have had great influence in the field over the past two decades. They promote the concept of the disease as multiple antibody and multiple organ, and put all the criteria on equal footing with equal weight, making it easy to use and memorize.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

This approach has not been entirely intuitive, Dr. Aringer noted. Dermatologists, for example, have criticized that the criteria could be fulfilled by meeting the four mucocutaneous criteria. And the sensitivity has been considered suboptimal, at just 83% in the cohort of the SLE International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) and lower in patients earlier in the disease course.

Under the 2012 SLICC criteria, patients have to be positive for anti-nuclear antibodies or antibodies to double-stranded DNA, and lupus nephritis on histology means automatic SLE classification.2 Sensitivity with these criteria is good, but specificity is below that of the ACR criteria. Dr. Aringer said that was likely because the SLICC group chose to keep the classification system structure similar to the previous system.

With this new effort, experts are trying to do better. “The main goals are to have a relatively intuitive set that helps in teaching; increase the sensitivity by comparison to the [current] ACR criteria, but maintain specificity in the same range; improve performance in early SLE; involve the larger SLE community as far as possible; and do this in a strictly scientific way,” Dr. Aringer said.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The Process

Sindhu Johnson, MD, PhD, a clinical researcher at University Health Network in Toronto, who is also helping lead the creation of the new system, described a rigorous, multilayered process of whittling down a list of criteria, literature review and organizing the criteria into seven clinical domains and three immunological domains.

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Meeting Reports, SLE (Lupus) Tagged With: 2017 Annual European Congress on Rheumatology, 2017 EULAR Congress, AC&R, American College of Rheumatology, Classification, criteria, Diagnosis, EULAR, meeting reports, Rheumatic Disease, rheumatology, SLE, Systemic lupus erythematosusIssue: October 2017

You Might Also Like:
  • New Classification Criteria for SLE: Proposed ACR/EULAR Criteria aim for high sensitivity & specificity
  • New SLE Criteria Under Development: A Joint Effort of the ACR & EULAR
  • New Lupus Classification Criteria Presented at ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting
  • ACR, EULAR Approve New Classification Criteria for Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)