Clinical characteristics of 195 patients with SLE and comparison between patients with and without clinical renal involvement. Except for the percentages, data represent the median value and range.
| Characteristics | Total, n = 195 | Overt Subset, n = 109 | Silent Subset, n = 86 | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at renal biopsy, yrs | 31 (11–69) | 32 (15–68) | 29 (11–69) | 0.10 |
| Women, n (%) | 181 (93) | 100 (92) | 81 (94) | 0.59 |
| Disease duration, yrs | 0 (0–23) | 1 (0–23) | 0 (0–19) | 0.008 |
| Patients received PSL, n (%) | 118 (61) | 69 (63) | 49 (57) | 0.37 |
| Dosage of PSL, mg/day | 9 (0–80) | 10 (0–80) | 5 (0–60) | 0.29 |
| Patients who received IA, n (%) | 20 (10) | 16 (15) | 4 (5) | 0.03 |
| Azathioprine, n | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| Mizoribine, n | 11 | 8 | 3 | |
| Cyclophosphamide, n | 5 | 4 | 1 | |
| Proteinuria, mg/day | 398 (0–29000) | 886 (0–29000) | 0 (0–350) | < 0.0001 |
| Presence of active urinary sediments, n (%) | 67 (61) | 67 (61) | 0 (0) | < 0.0001 |
| Serum creatinine, mg/dl | 0.7 (0.3–4.0) | 0.8 (0.4–4.0) | 0.6 (0.3–1.0) | < 0.0001 |
| eGFR, ml/min/1.73 m2 | 82 (12–206) | 70 (12–151) | 91 (68–206) | < 0.0001 |
| Anti-dsDNA, IU/ml | 41 (0–9635) | 39 (0–9635) | 44 (0–2180) | 0.74 |
| Anti-Sm positivity, n (%) | 27 (14) | 16 (15) | 11 (13) | 0.70 |
| CH50, U/ml | 22.6 (0–50.7) | 20.9 (0–50.7) | 24.5 (0–49.8) | 0.049 |
| C3, mg/dl | 52 (10–150) | 46 (10–150) | 56 (21–129) | 0.037 |
| C4, mg/dl | 11 (1–52) | 11 (1–52) | 11 (1–40) | 0.81 |
P values were estimated to allow comparisons between patients with and without clinical renal involvement; SLE: systemic lupus erythematosus; overt subset: patients with clinical renal involvement; silent subset: patients without clinical renal involvement; PSL: prednisolone; IA: immunosuppressive agents; eGFR: estimated glomerular filtration rate.