Table 2.
Comparison of baseline characteristics between patients who developed renal relapse during follow-up versus patients without renal relapse.
| Variable | Renal relapse n = 20 |
Without renal relapse n = 95 |
p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female, n (%) | 17 (85) | 91 (96) | 0.10 |
| Age (yr), mean ± SD | 40.4 ± 12.2 | 44.9 ± 11.2 | 0.11 |
| Disease duration (yr), mean ± SD | 10.5 ± 7.1 | 10.5 ± 13.2 | 0.98 |
| M-SLEDAI score at baseline, mean ± SD | 0.7 ± 1.0 | 0.6 ± 0.9 | 0.59 |
| Positive Anti-nucleosomes at baseline, n (%) | 7 (35) | 11 (12) | 0.02 |
| Positive Anti-dsDNA at baseline, n (%) | 8 (40) | 14 (15) | 0.02 |
| Medication | |||
| Immunosuppressive drugs (AZA or MMF), n (%) | 10 (50) | 69 (73) | 0.06 |
| Prednisone doses, mg/day at baseline | 10.0 ± 8.5 | 9.2 ± 9.9 | 0.74 |
Qualitative variables are expressed as frequencies (%). Quantitative variables are expressed as the means ± SD. Comparisons of qualitative variables were made with the χ2 test. Comparisons for quantitative variables were made with Student’s t test. M-SLEDAI: Modified Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index; Anti-nucleosomes (+) were considered when ≥ 14 RU/mL. AZA: Azathioprine. MMF: Mycophenolate mofetil. Patients without renal relapse included those with no relapse or relapse other than renal relapse.