ABSTRACT
Because of the high frequency of late presentation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease in our population, we decided to explore the presence of myocarditis among people with HIV infection and advanced immunosuppression (less than 200 CD4+ cells/µL) and to describe the inflammatory changes observed after combined antiretroviral therapy initiation in an observational, longitudinal, prospective cohort. We performed both cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging and doppler transthoracic echocardiogram.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Hematological abnormalities, particularly lymphopenia, are common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), whether the disease is active or not. The aim of this study is to assess whether lymphopenia (blood counts ≤1000 K/µl) is a risk factor for severe infections in patients with SLE. METHODS: A retrospective case-control study was performed. We reviewed the clinical records of 167 SLE patients throughout a 5-year period. SLE patients with severe infections were compared with those without infection and the presence of lymphopenia was obtained from the blood count previous to the infection date. Also, other clinical and laboratory features as well as immunosuppressive therapy and SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) were recorded. RESULTS: Univariate analysis shows multiple risk factors for severe infections in SLE, such as lymphopenia, high SLEDAI index, prednisone (PDN) and mycophenolate mofetil treatment and low levels of C3 and C4. Moreover, hydroxychloroquine treatment conferred protection. However, after multivariate analysis, only lymphopenia [odds ratio (OR) 5.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.39-11.3], PDN treatment (OR 4.8, 95% CI 2.1-11.9) and low levels of C3 (OR 2.97, 95% CI 1.1-7.9) remained as independent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that lymphopenia, PDN treatment and low levels of C3 are independent risk factors for the development of severe infections in SLE patients, including diverse microorganisms, not only opportunistic infections.