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Studies by Prystowsky, Gilliam, myself, and others have suggested that the presence of skin discoid lesions in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with benign outcome. However, these studies were relatively small, retrospective, and conducted primarily in outpatient dermatology settings.
These authors compared a large cohort of SLE patients seen in rheumatology clinics with and without a dermatologist's diagnosis of discoid LE (177 vs. 926). The researchers found that the patients with DLE were significantly more likely to be photosensitive, to have leucopenia, and to be anti-Sm antibody positive and were less likely to have pleuritis or arthritis. There was no significant association of renal disease in patients w…