When the researchers analyzed the subgroup of patients without lupus nephritis, they again found those with a EULAR/ACR SLE score of 20 or more had a higher SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 throughout the first five years, as well as a lower probability of achieving remission—for all definitions of remission described above, except for clinical remission on treatment—than did patients with a score of less than 20.
Dr. Garcia wants her rheumatologist colleagues to know the study findings suggest that if a patient is diagnosed with a multisystem disease—even in the absence of nephritis—they have a higher probability of a more active clinical course following the first five years of diagnosis than do patients without multisystem disease.
However, Dr. Johnson emphasizes the criteria have been endorsed only for classification—not for predictions of ominosity.
Lara C. Pullen, PhD, is a medical writer based in the Chicago area.
Reference
- Whittall Garcia LP, Gladman DD, Urowitz M, et al. New EULAR/ACR 2019 SLE classification criteria: Defining ominosity in SLE. Ann Rheum Dis. 2021;80:767–774.
