Measurement of systemic lupus erythematosus activity in clinical research

✍ Scribed by Matthew H. Liang; Steven A. Socher; W. Neal Roberts; John M. Esdaile

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 881 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780310701

✦ Synopsis

The judgment of whether a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is better or worse is a central question in patient management. Yet, John L. Decker's lament is still cogent (1):

The management of systemic lupus erythematosus today is rather more of an art than a science. An artistic endeavor is rarely encumbered by facts. That, despite much good work, is an accurate description of the field of therapeusis in lupus-it is based upon few, if any, incontestable facts.

Perhaps the principal reason for this dearth is our inability to describe in quantifiable terms the state of a patient on any given afternoon in clinic. The patient's state guides the therapeutic election for the next weeks or months. Our objective is to improve that state or, at the least, to fend off its deterioration.

How can we do this if we are so poorly endowed with measuring sticks? We need more formalized and generalizable measures of disease activity.