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5TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY, KOLKATA, 29TH & 30TH SEPTEMBER 2007
Sukumar Mukherjee
Professor and Head (Ex), Medical College, Kolkata
Consultant Physician, Advanced Medicare and Research Institute, Kolkata
SLE is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of unknown etiology. Over the last few decades, it has been found that timely appropriate and aggressive therapy can delay or prevent organ failure and is cost effective. The principles of management of SLE are essentially early diagnosis and assessment, patient education, preventive measures, control of disease activity, organ salvage, care of co-morbid states and emergencies.
Various disease activity scores have been adopted by various authors viz. SLEDAI(SLE disease activity index),BILAG(British Isles Lupus activity grade) and SLAM(Systemic lupus measures).
The pharmaceutical treatment of SLE consists of 4 main types of drugs either alone or in combination of NSAIDS, Hydroxychloroquine, Corticosteroids & Cytotoxic drugs. Meticulous follow up is essential. A new study, SLICC( Systemic Lupus International Collaborative Clinics), is currently aiming to define a drug responder index for SLE patients.
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