Initial Clinical Presentation of Systematic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Patientsin Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital

Abstract

Background. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic
autoimmune disease characterized by highly diverse and nonspecific
symptoms with clinical presentations involving more than one organ system
which often leads to delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis. This study aims
to understand patients’ initial clinical presentation in order to enhance early
detection and establish an early diagnosis. Methods. This descriptive crosssectional
quantitative
study

included patients who commenced their visits
to the Rheumatology Clinic at RSCM from May 2021-December 2022. A
consecutive sampling method was used, and data were analyzed for age,
gender, symptom onset, as well as patients' initial clinical presentations
(SPSS 25.0). Results. Out of 231 subjects, 96.1% were females. A total of
38.1% of the patients belonged to the 21-30 age group, and symptom onset
was most commonly observed in the 0-1 year age group, accounting for
67.5%. Approximately 24.2% of the patients exhibited constitutional
manifestations with involvement of other organs, including musculoskeletal
(87.4%), mucocutaneous (84%), hematologic (3.,5%), renal (33.3%), and
neuropsychiatric 
(8.7%) systems. Lungs, heart, blood vessels, 
gastrointestinal and hepatic systems, eyes, obstetric, and endocrine
involvements were not found in this study. Among the 231 subjects, 44.2%
of them had simultaneous involvement of two organs, which emerged as their
initial clinical presentation. Conclusion. Musculoskeletal and
mucocutaneous involvement were most commonly observed as th e initial
clinical presentation of SLE patients at RSCM, followed by hematologic,
renal, and neuropsychiatric involvement.