الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that has a course of multiple remissions and relapses. It can affect any body system; thus, its presentation and course are extremely variable, varying from indolent to fatal.
The aim of the present work was to detect the presence of pulmonary affection among children with proven systemic lupus erythematosus.
This is a cross sectional study in which we analyzed the characteristics of 40 Egyptian children, attending both renal and rheumatology clinics of Alexandria University Children’s Hospital, from January 2018 to June 2019. Clinical evaluation, pulmonary function test and chest imaging were implemented to discover pulmonary affection in children with SLE.
The following results were obtained:
1. The majority of the patients (87.5%) were females.
2. The mean age of the patients at the time of the present study ranged from 7 to 20 years with a mean of 14.1 ± 3.3years.
3. At the time of the study, the duration of the disease ranged from 6 months to 12 years with a mean of 4.65 ± 3.25 years.
4. The most common initial presentations in this study were positive serological markers (95%) as follows: 97.4% ANA, 92% Anti-dsDNA, 52.6% low C3 & 5% antiphospholipid. Followed by renal manifestation (70%), hematological presentation (65%), then dermatological manifestation (57.5%). Only 10% of cases presented by pulmonary manifestation
5. Renal biopsy was done at the time of disease diagnosis for 95% of the patients and showed that Half of the cases (50%) had class IV, 32.5% had class II and 10% had class III
6. The most commonly used drugs at the time of the study in order of frequency were steroids (95%), followed by chloroquine/ hydroxychloroquine (87.5%), Mycophenolate (MMF) (70%), cyclophosphamide (12.5%) then 5% of each of the following drugs azathioprine, methotrexate and tacrolimus.
7. Only 10% (4 cases) had pulmonary complain and 12.5% (5 cases) had abnormal chest examination.
8. In this study 12.5% had anemia,7.5% had leucopenia, 5% had thrombocytopenia & 2.5% had abnormal renal function tests.
9. At the time of the study half of the cases was in flare regarding SLEDAI.
10. After collecting the results of pulmonary function tests and CT chest we found 18 cases (45%) had pulmonary involvement.