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Rituximab is an approved therapy for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Many patients with SLE have cutaneous disease. In addition, some patients who initially have skin manifestations alone later develop symptoms and findings that fulfill the criteria for SLE. Although antimalarial agents are effective for both cutaneous disease and some systemic manifestations, other systemic manifestations are poorly or not at all responsive to these agents, and some skin disease is antimalarial-resistant. Therefore, alternative therapies are needed. These authors studied rituximab.
In this prospective study of 82 patients with SLE, 32 had cutaneous disease before, during, or after rituximab therapy. The skin disease was diagnosed by a dermatologist and …