Systemic Lupus Erythematosus - Confusing Questions !!

[Shaden]

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So one of my professor gave me an assignment about a 14 year old boy have been diagnose with SLE. Having a Renal problem and sever anemia with a depression in his immune system.

I've been searching a lot and I couldn't find a single information that tell me if it is a lethal disease or not. I know it's chronic, but every thing I read is saying with medication we are looking only for 10 years of survival.

so I'm asking do you know if a patient with SLE can live his whole life ??!! If he didn't get any complication or an organ failure ?

And what is the leading country in the world for treatment of SLE .. ?!!

Thanks... =)

 

[Keillor Fan]

Yes patients with SLE can survive a relatively typical lifespan, provided treatment and management is sufficient.
I have no idea which Country treats lupus the best.....

 

[TMP-SMX]

It's lethal from its complications and can affect every organ system. Therefore, prognosis is highly variable. The treatments such as steroids also have their own problems.

 

[njbmd]

So one of my professor gave me an assignment about a 14 year old boy have been diagnose with SLE. Having a Renal problem and sever anemia with a depression in his immune system.

I've been searching a lot and I couldn't find a single information that tell me if it is a lethal disease or not. I know it's chronic, but every thing I read is saying with medication we are looking only for 10 years of survival.

so I'm asking do you know if a patient with SLE can live his whole life ??!! If he didn't get any complication or an organ failure ?

And what is the leading country in the world for treatment of SLE .. ?!!

Thanks... =)

Looks like you need to look in places that give better information.

 

[Gute]

so I'm asking do you know if a patient with SLE can live his whole life ??!! If he didn't get any complication or an organ failure ?

obviously 🙄

 

[Revilla]

As someone with SLE, I can tell you that yes, people can survive and live a normal lifespan. Does everyone? No. I've lost three members of my support group in the last few years due to complications from it. But not everyone has severe complications.

The figures you're seeing are confusing, I agree, but you're misinterpreting them. They don't say that we're looking at only 10 years survival. They say that such and such percentage will survive 10 years. They should say "at least" ten years because what really happened is that they didn't follow those patients after 10 years, so we have no way of knowing how long after the study ended they actually survived.

Going back to the patient your professor gave you, that situation is a bit different from your average SLE patient because (a) it's a male pediatric patient and (b) there's kidney involvement. I believe kidney involvement affects half of all lupus patients and most lupus patients are going to be women of child-bearing age. IIRC, pediatric lupus patients are most at risk for kidney complications and those with kidney involvement have a poorer prognosis than those without. You'll have to double-check my facts on all that though. That's just what I remember from my own research of the disease after my diagnosis.

 

[Shaden]

As someone with SLE, I can tell you that yes, people can survive and live a normal lifespan. Does everyone? No. I've lost three members of my support group in the last few years due to complications from it. But not everyone has severe complications.

The figures you're seeing are confusing, I agree, but you're misinterpreting them. They don't say that we're looking at only 10 years survival. They say that such and such percentage will survive 10 years. They should say "at least" ten years because what really happened is that they didn't follow those patients after 10 years, so we have no way of knowing how long after the study ended they actually survived.

Going back to the patient your professor gave you, that situation is a bit different from your average SLE patient because (a) it's a male pediatric patient and (b) there's kidney involvement. I believe kidney involvement affects half of all lupus patients and most lupus patients are going to be women of child-bearing age. IIRC, pediatric lupus patients are most at risk for kidney complications and those with kidney involvement have a poorer prognosis than those without. You'll have to double-check my facts on all that though. That's just what I remember from my own research of the disease after my diagnosis.

Alright I get that!!

But what if the patient kidney problem was solved! Let say he was having a Kidney failure and then he got a Kidney transplant, now the problem is solved but will it ever come back ?!

I mean if this pediatric patient now is having a good kidney will this be good for his prognosis ??

And I've heard a lot that Germany is the best country in treatment of SLE, is this true ?!

Thanks for your very helpful replies everyone !

 

[hef]

Something tells me there might be a 14 yo boy in this thread.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Are you sure you are a medical student? The kidney problem is not solved. Though after transplant the treatment to prevent rejection is a very similar treatment against SLE. However it will probably eventually recur or there will be infection or rejection. Either way if the kidney is involved other vascular structures are also involved.

 

[werd]

op, your grammar is a little lacking. the concept that one country or another is better at treating a particular disease doesn't make much sense to me. more realistically, there are probably particular doctors or practices/hospitals that are better than others. a 14-year old with SLE who gets a kidney transplant probably has a guarded long-term prognosis.

the type of quesions you're asking makes me think you're a first-year or earlier. if you can't find good answers to your questions on medline or pubmed, you should probably discuss this case with your attending; the 14-year-old with SLE should also talk to his doctor....

 

[treva]

Harrison's Internal Med will answer all your questions.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

yeah, I'm going out on a limb and saying the OP is not a med student...

 

[richse]

op, your grammar is a little lacking. the concept that one country or another is better at treating a particular disease doesn't make much sense to me. more realistically, there are probably particular doctors or practices/hospitals that are better than others. a 14-year old with SLE who gets a kidney transplant probably has a guarded long-term prognosis.

the type of quesions you're asking makes me think you're a first-year or earlier. if you can't find good answers to your questions on medline or pubmed, you should probably discuss this case with your attending; the 14-year-old with SLE should also talk to his doctor....

In our health care/policy lectures they are constantly talking about countries that are better at diseases than other counties so I don't think the OP is wrong for asking. Granted, most of the time it's a more general stat like "infant mortality" that is ranked, but I remember there was a specific ranking for breast cancer treatment. It was one of the few areas that the US was #1 in the world.

 

[MexicanDr]

But what if the patient kidney problem was solved! Let say he was having a Kidney failure and then he got a Kidney transplant, now the problem is solved but will it ever come back ?!

SLE Is an immune disorder, so you can have many transplants and will always be at risk of any organ being attacked...