Active haematological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus lupus are associated with a high rate of in-hospital mortality

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of the haematological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) on mortality in hospitalized patients. For that purpose a case–control study of hospitalized patients in a medical referral centre from January 2009 to December 2014 was performed. For analysis, patients hospitalized for any haematological activity of SLE ( n = 103) were compared with patients hospitalized for other manifestations of SLE activity or complications of treatment ( n = 206). Taking as a variable outcome hospital death, an analysis of potential associated factors was performed. The most common haematological manifestation was thrombocytopenia (63.1%), followed by haemolytic anaemia (30%) and neutropenia (25.2%). In the group of haematological manifestations, 17 (16.5%) deaths were observed compared to 10 (4.8%) deaths in the control group ( P < 0.001). The causes of death were similar in both groups. In the analysis of the variables, it was found that only haematological manifestations were associated with intra-hospital death (odds ratio 3.87, 95% confidence interval 1.8–88, P < 0.001). Our study suggests that apparently any manifestation of haematological activity of SLE is associated with poor prognosis and contributes to increased hospital mortality.