Table 2.
Repeated kidney biopsy as a predictor of kidney flares and of safety withdrawal of therapy
| Authors | No. (%) of Patients Recruited/ Completed Study | Months of Therapy/ Remission before Repeated Kidney Biopsy | No. (%) of Patients with an Activity Index >0 at Repeated Kidney Biopsy | No. (%) of Patients Who Stopped Therapy | Months after Stopping Therapy | No. (%) of Patients Who Developed Kidney Flares | No. (%) of Flares in Patients with Activity Index =0 | Flare Rate: no./yr | Predictors of Flares |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Rosa et al. (17) 2018 | 44/36 | 36/≥12 | 16 (44.4)a | 36 (100) | 24 | 11 (30.5) | 1 (9%) | 5.5 | AI>2 at R.B., duration of SLE |
| Malvar et al. (19) 2019 | 76/55 | 42/≥12 | 20 (26.6) | 55 (72.4), all patients with AI=0 | 50b | 7 (12.7) | 7 (100) | 1.55 | None |
| Parodis et al. (21) 2020 | 42/42 | 24/NA | 10 (23.8) | 0 | 107.7 | 11 (26.2) | NA | 1.23 | AI and high proteinuria at R.B. |
AI, activity index; R.B., repeated kidney biopsy; NA, not available.
a
AI was one or two in nine of 16 patients and three or five in seven patients.
b
Mycophenolate was withdrawn in 6 months; glucocorticoids were continued beyond year 2 of treatment only if needed for extrarenal SLE activity.