ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To heighten the awareness of a possible association of sclerosing peritonitis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS AND RESULTS: Over the course of 17 years (from January 1981 to December 1997), 371 patients were treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) at Rush-Presbyterian-St Lukes Medical Center. The patients were followed on CAPD for an average of 25 +/- 21 (SD) months with a median of 19 months (range 0.2-115 months). During this time only 2 (0.5%) patients were diagnosed with sclerosing peritonitis, and both had SLE with ongoing evidence of active disease while on CAPD. With a total of 26 SLE patients being treated with CAPD during the observation period, the prevalence of sclerosing peritonitis can be said to be as high as 8% in this patient population. CONCLUSION: These cases suggest that autoimmune diseases, such as SLE, that are well known to cause immune-mediated serositis may represent an additional factor predisposing to the development of sclerosing peritonitis in patients treated with CAPD.
