Lupus nephritis in Lebanon

This is a retrospective study of the clinicopathological characteristics of 50 systemic lupus erythematosus patients with nephritis who underwent a ki dney biopsy and were admitted to the American University of Beirut Medical Center, in Lebanon, between 1979 and 1999. There were 43 females and seven males, with a median age of 24 y. Renal histology slides from these patient s were assessed according to the World Health Organization classification, and were distributed as follows: class I (n = 3, 6%); class II (n = 14, 28% ); class III (n = 11, 22%); class IV (n = 19, 38%); class V (n = 1, 2%); cl ass VI (n = 2, 4%). All the patients received oral prednisone, in addition the Following treatments were used: pulse intravenous (IV) cyclophosphamide (n = 23, 46%); azathioprine (n = 22, 44%); pulse IV steroids (n = 19, 38%) ; chloroquine sulfate (n = 17, 34%); methotrexate (n = 5, 10%); and plasmap heresis (n = 2, 4%). The median duration of follow-up was 5 v (range 1-33 y ). On their last evaluation, out of 37 patients who were followed, 20 patie nts (54%) had controlled disease, eight patients (22%) were still on active medical treatment, four patients(11%) were on chronic hemodialysis, and fi ve patients: (13%) had died. Unlike three other Arab populations studies fr om Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, where the most frequent h istopathologic abnormality was class III, diffuse proliferative LN (class I V) was the most common type of lupus nephritis in Lebanon, similarly to rep orts from USA, France, Netherlands, South Africa. Thailand and Taiwan.