Cardiac function in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The observation that the disease may affect all cardiac tissues, although frequently in a subclinical fashion, has come to attention only recently after the introduction of non-invasive sensitive cardiac imaging technology in clinical practice. We review the current perspective of this topic, placing special emphasis on what is known and what is not known regarding cardiac disease in the pediatric population with SLE. Our current lack of information calls for the initiation of collaborative research in this area.