Poor prognostic indicators include onset of disease in childhood, high urea, persistent proteinuria, evidence of arteritis, cardiopulmonary and CNS involvement, and necessity for long-term corticosteroid therapy.
- 5 year survival is more than 90% but although SLE survival has improved over the last 40 years, people with SLE still die years younger than average in the UK (1)
- the most common cause of mortality is cardiovascular disease, followed closely by infection and severe disease activity (2)
- the risk of death due to malignancy is not increased (3)
References
- M Zen et al. Mortality and causes of death in systemic lupus erythematosus over the last decade: Data from a large population-based study. European Journal of Internal Medicine. Volume 112. p45-51 June 2023
- Fors Nieves CE, Izmirly PM. Mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus: an updated review. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2016 Apr;18(4):21.
- Lee YH, Choi SJ, Ji JD, et al. Overall and cause-specific mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus: an updated meta-analysis. Lupus. 2016 Jun;25(7):727-34.