Cutaneous lupus erythematosus--a study of clinical and laboratory prognostic factors in 65 patients.

An eleven year review of patients presenting with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (LE) was made in order to determine the frequency of change from discoid LE (DLE) to systemic LE (SLE) and to identify clinical and laboratory prognostic factors. Three of fifty-six (5.4%) patients with DLE progressed to SLE after 1, 13 and 34 years respectively. They had a progressive rash and persistent abnormalities in their full blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, antinuclear antibody and serum immunoglobulins prior to the development of SLE. We recommend that regular longterm monitoring of these indices should be carried out in patients presenting with DLE.