Systemic Lupus diagnosis

Symptoms and signs presented by lupus are characterized by a very low level of specificity; it means that these symptoms are very similar by those that are associated to many other diseases. Another issue associated to symptoms is that they appear and disappear frequently which makes more difficult to deliver an accurate diagnosis.

Systemic lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease which is classified in the group of Systemic vasculitis diseases, a common characteristic of these diseases is that the walls of blood vessels tend to swell.

An in-depth analysis of clinic history and physical examination of the patient are required in order to discard other possible diseases, in addition an analysis of antibodies will be required.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has published a list of signs are symptoms that are very useful laboratory parameters to classify and differentiate patients affected by Systemic Lupus from patients affected by other diseases. If the patient presents four or more symptoms of this list is a confirmation of the existence of Systemic Lupus.

Common symptoms of Systemic Lupus:

  • Rash on raised plaques
  • Rash on the cheeks
  • Skin reaction to exposure to sunlight increasing the intensity of erythema
  • Non-erosive arthritis present on two or more peripheral joints
  • Ulcers on mouth and nose, usually painless
  • Excess of proteins on urine (greater than 0.5 grams per day) or abnormal elements that are formed with white blood cells, red blood cells and other cells
  • Psychosis and seizures in absence of medicines and neurological disorders with no reasonable cause
  • Hemolytic anemia or leucopenia, white blood cells fewer than 4000 cells per cubic millimeter or lymphopenia
  • Positive results for antinuclear antibodies analysis in absence of medicines which are responsible for their appearance
  • Positive results for anticardiolipin antibodies analysis

There are different tests in order to detect the presence of lupus; one of them is the antibodies test. Another test that can be done is a tissue biopsy, this one is not mandatory but it is indicated in case that symptomatology presented by the patient and additional laboratory examinations point out high possibilities of systemic lupus.

Kidneys biopsy can bring very useful information like degree of scarring or chronicity presented by tissues affected by lupus. Other organs biopsy is exceptional and may not be mandatory. However in some cases a bone biopsy may be needed in order to proceed to analyze the bone marrow in case that amounts of blood cells are confusing for physicians.

Like what happens with other diseases, it is very important to discover right on time the presence of systemic lupus, if a treatment is started immediately the patient can still have an almost normal life by means of minimizing symptoms caused by this disease, reducing inflamation and preventing the development of possible complications which in time could become lethal. Lately new studies have shown that Systemic Lupus is attacking in a more aggressive way to Latin-Americans, and also to Afro-American people.