Skin damage occurs early in systemic lupus erythematosus and independently of disease duration in Brazilian patients.

To determine if skin damage is related to disease duration in Brazilian patients with SLE followed in a tertiary reference center through the application of standardized damage index (SLICC/ACR-DI). Sixty SLE patients were enrolled in this study. Relevant data were obtained through patients' interview, physical and laboratory examinations and review of the hospital records. The frequency and the different types of organ damage were determined using de SLICC/ACR-DI. Statistics were performed through chi-square and Student's t tests. Multivariate regression was used to correlate damage with disease duration. Forty-one (68.3%) patients presented any type of cumulative organ damage. The skin (35%), renal (23.3%) and neuropsychiatric (18.3%) systems were the most frequently involved, followed by peripheric vascular, ocular and cardiovascular systems. Non-Caucasoid patients and patients with longer disease duration had a slight tendency for greater organ damage (P = 0.05). Skin damage occurred independently of disease duration, whereas cardiovascular (P = 0.051), peripheral vascular (P = 0.057) and pulmonary damage (P = 0.06) had a tendency to occur more frequently in patients with longer disease duration. In this study, 68.3% of permanent damage was observed. An elevated frequency of skin damage was observed in this population which occurred independently of disease duration. Non-Caucasian patients had a tendency to present higher scores, but more studies are necessary to determine if ethnic or economic factors are involved.