Special features of male systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a non-organ-specific autoimmune disease. Male lupus is rarer, but reputed to be more severe and more prone to complications. Our series identified the most common disorders to develop during the course of male SLE: rheumatological manifestations (mainly arthralgia) were present in all patients; followed by mucocutaneous manifestations (mainly malar rash and photosensitivity), which were present in 81% of patients. Renal involvement was present in 71.4% of patients. We found a high prevalence of cardiac and pleuropulmonary manifestations in men. Fifteen male patients (71.4%) had a SLEDAI score of 11 or above, representing high to very high disease activity. Infectious complications were dominated by pneumopathies and urinary tract infections. Non-infectious complications were mainly adverse effects of treatment, particularly corticosteroids.