Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Men: A Study Among Egyptian Patients

Abstract

Introduction and Objectives: The aim of the study is to evaluate the influence of male gender on the pattern of SLE regarding clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, therapeutic features and outcome, and compare these findings to the female patients with SLE. Materials and Methods: Three hundred patients with SLE (260 female and 40 male) with a mean age of 29.32 years and mean disease duration 5.596 years were included in this study. A purposefully designed sheet was applied to analyze the medical records of SLE patients that were regularly following up in the rheumatology and rehabilitation department, Faculty of medicine, Cairo University. Results: The average ages of disease onset of the male and female patients were comparable. During the course of the disease, males had a significantly lower proportion of alopecia (P value 0.026), atelectasis (P value 0.036), gastritis (P value 0.046), hemolytic anaemia (P value 0.000), and a significantly higher proportion of valvular affection (P value 0.033), ischemia (P value 0.038), higher serum creatinine (P value 0.010) than female patients. Male patients presented with significantly higher ratios of malignancy than the female group (p value 0.017). Conclusion: This study has provided information regarding the features of clinical expression and morbidity in male patients, and has shown that gender is a possible factor that can influence the clinical expression of SLE.