Table 2.
The clinical and imaging characteristics for the subgroup comparisons in SLE patients.
| SLEDAI | BILAG | nBILAG | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| severe | non-severe | p value | severe | non-severe | p value | severe | non-severe | p value | |
| n = 72 | n = 58 | n = 99 | n = 31 | n = 33 | n = 97 | ||||
| Characteristics | |||||||||
| Age (ave. ± SD) | 36.8 ± 11.9 | 35.3 ± 12.2 | 0.476 | 35.6 ± 11.6 | 37.7 ± 13.3 | 0.416 | 32.4 ± 9.1 | 37.5 ± 12.7 | 0.035 |
| Smoking, % | 7 (10) | 8 (14) | 0.474 | 13 (13) | 2 (6) | 0.313 | 4 (12) | 11(11) | 0.904 |
| Obesity, % | 4 (6) | 7 (12) | 0.187 | 6 (6) | 5 (16) | 0.080 | 2 (6) | 9 (9) | 0.570 |
| Duration (month ± SD) | 76.0 ± 92.1 | 52.0 ± 83.0 | 0.120 | 59.8 ± 89.4 | 72.3 ± 82.4 | 0.490 | 67.5 ± 78.9 | 61.1 ± 90.7 | 0.718 |
| Imaging | |||||||||
| Atrophy, % | 24 (33) | 17 (29) | 0.752 | 34 (34) | 7 (23) | 0.175 | 14 (42) | 27 (28) | 0.079 |
| WML, % | 28 (39) | 18 (31) | 0.356 | 37 (37) | 9 (29) | 0.401 | 11 (33) | 35 (36) | 0.777 |
| High CS-EPVS (>20), % | 55 (76) | 20 (34) | <0.001 | 65 (66) | 10 (32) | <0.001 | 21 (64) | 54 (56) | 0.428 |
| High BG-EPVS (>20), % | 14 (19) | 9 (16) | 0.563 | 19 (19) | 4 (13) | 0.427 | 5 (15) | 18 (19) | 0.661 |
| Medical history | |||||||||
| Pulse steroid therapy, % | 13 (18) | 15 (26) | 0.285 | 21 (21) | 7 (23) | 0.873 | 7 (21) | 21 (22) | 0.958 |
| Average PSL dose (mg ± SD) | 6.2 ± 13.6 | 5.4 ± 6.1 | 0.780 | 5.7 ± 9.4 | 6.1 ± 8.1 | 0.809 | 5.2 ± 7.5 | 5.9 ± 9.6 | 0.835 |
| Medical comorbidities | |||||||||
| Hypertension, % | 23 (32) | 9 (16) | 0.031 | 28 (28) | 4 (13) | 0.084 | 4 (12) | 28 (29) | 0.054 |
| Hyperlipidemia, % | 8 (11) | 4 (7) | 0.413 | 9 (9) | 3 (10) | 0.922 | 3 (9) | 9 (9) | 0.975 |
| Diabetes mellitus, % | 6 (8) | 3 (5) | 0.484 | 8 (8) | 1 (3) | 0.357 | 2 (6) | 7 (7) | 0.823 |
| Acivity index (ave. ± SD) | |||||||||
| SLEDAI score | 17.9 ± 5.6 | 4.7 ± 3.2 | <0.001 | 14.3 ± 7.4 | 4.7 ± 5.1 | <0.001 | 14.1 ± 9.0 | 11.3 ± 7.6 | 0.087 |
| BILAG index score | 18.0 ± 8.5 | 6.7 ± 5.3 | <0.001 | 16.2 ± 8.1 | 2.6 ± 2.0 | <0.001 | 18.1 ± 9.2 | 11.3 ± 8.2 | <0.001 |
| nBILAG index score | 2.3 ± 3.8 | 0.7 ± 2.1 | 0.003 | 2.1 ± 3.6 | 0.2 ± 0.6 | 0.004 | 6.3 ± 3.4 | 0 | — |
| Blood examinations (ave. ± SD) | |||||||||
| WBC (103/μL) | 5.0 ± 2.8 | 5.4 ± 2.4 | 0.330 | 5.1 ± 2.6 | 5.5 ± 2.7 | 0.497 | 5.0 ± 2.2 | 5.3 ± 2.8 | 0.596 |
| PLT (103/μL) | 201.7 ± 95.3 | 219.8 ± 76.6 | 0.242 | 204.1 ± 91.7 | 227.8 ± 71.2 | 0.190 | 207.0 ± 97.2 | 210.7 ± 84.6 | 0.833 |
| ESR (mm/hr) | 56.8 ± 33.3 | 35.7 ± 29.8 | <0.001 | 52.3 ± 33.9 | 31.6 ± 26.2 | 0.002 | 40.7 ± 29.8 | 49.6 ± 34.4 | 0.186 |
| CH50 (U/ml) | 26.7 ± 16.6 | 40.9 ± 14.4 | <0.001 | 32.1 ± 17.4 | 36.0 ± 16.1 | 0.271 | 54.2 ± 83.7 | 32.5 ± 17.9 | 0.490 |
| Anti-dsDNA antibody (IU/ml) | 152.5 ± 161.3 | 31.2 ± 58.7 | <0.001 | 117.6 ± 151.2 | 37.0 ± 64.1 | 0.004 | 94.5 ± 138.8 | 99.7 ± 140.6 | 0.855 |
Abbreviations: WML = white matter lesion; CS = centrum semiovale; EPVS = enlarged perivascular spaces; BG = basal ganglia; PSL = prednisolone; SLEDAI = Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index; BILAG = British Isles Lupus Assessment Group; nBILAG = neuro British Isles Lupus Assessment Group; WBC = white blood cell; PLT = platelet; ESR = erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CH50 = 50% hemolytic unit of complement; anti-dsDNA antibodie = anti-double stranded DNA antibody.