الفهرس 
SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
EtiologyOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
ystemic lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic
multisystem autoimmune disease with a wide spectrum of
manifestations, which is primarily affecting females and
characterized by clinically heterogeneous manifestations of
different organs (Carli et al., 2013).
The etiology of SLE includes both genetic and
environmental components with female sex strongly
influencing pathogenesis. These factors lead to an irreversible
break in immunological tolerance manifested by immune
responses against endogenous nuclear antigens (Ruiz-Irastorza
et al., 2010).
The eye is frequently involved in SLE. The disease may
cause ocular involvement by several mechanisms including
immune complex deposition in the basement membrane of
endothelial cells of the small blood vessels. Ocular
complications have been reported in up to one-third of patients
with SLE. Unlike other autoimmune diseases, which may have
a predilection for either anterior or posterior segment of the
eye, SLE may affect any structure of the eye and adnexa. The
ocular findings in SLE are important because they may be the
initial manifestation of the disease (Ostanek et al., 2007)
Our study is cross sectional case control study which was
carried out on 100 SLE patients fulfilling diagnosis according
to Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) 2012 classification criteria for SLE (Petri et al., 2012) and 30
age and sex matched normal controls.
All patients were subjected to detailed medical history
taking and thorough clinically and musculoskeletal examination
with assessment of disease activity using SLEDAI score.
Results of our study showed that about 46% of SLE
patients had ocular manifestations. Dry eye and retinopathy were
the most prevalent among SLE patients with each affecting 24%
of them. 17% of the patients had reduced visual acuity.
Cotton-wool spots were the most common retinal abnormal
finding followed by other rare forms of retinopathy as vasculitis,
attenuated blood vessels, papilledema and pale optic disc.
SLE patients with ocular affection especially retinopathy
had significantly higher levels of Anticardiolipin antibodies,
Lupus Anticoagulant and also disease duration and SLEDAI
score when compared to those patients without ocular affection.