Clinical spectrum of lupus nephritis and ethnic differences on presentation at Port-of-Spain General Hospital - abstract

ABSTRACT

Over the period 1980-1989, a retrospective study of 77 patients presenting to the Renal Unit with SLE nephritis was undertaken. The overwhelming majority of patients were female (85.7 per cent) presenting at a mean age of 28 years. The ethnic distribution showed that 63 per cent of patients were of African and 19.5 per cent of East Indian descent; 1.3 per cent had a positive family history of SLE. The predominance of Africans in this study is different from the Renal Clinic population where there is equal representation of the major ethnic groups and is also different from the population of patients with significant proteinuria attending the Renal Clinic. The difference in presentation between the two major ethnic groups in this study should be further evaluated in a prospective study, using case controls (AU)