5TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY, KOLKATA, 29TH & 30TH SEPTEMBER 2007

* Dr. Priyankar Pal, **Dr. Birendra Rai, **Dr. Amrit Jivan
* Assistant Professor, ** PGT
Institute of Child Health, Kolkata

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Lupus is a prerogative of rheumatologists but is also a domain of dermatologists. Of the eleven ACR 1997 criteria for classification of lupus, four are limited to skin - malar rash, discoid rash, photo sensitivity, oral or nasal mucocutaneous ulcerations. SLE is easy to diagnose when the classical malar rash is present; which though highly suggestive is not-pathognomic. A variety of other lesions - maculopapular vasculitic rashes, petechiae, purpura, periungual erythema and gangrene, Raynaud's phenomenon, alopecia, nail infarcts, livedo reticularis, angiitic papules, chronic leg ulcers, bullous lesions - may be present either at onset or during the disease course.

Cutaneous lupus is a distinct clinical entity where systemic features may be absent. About 7-10% of discoid lupus may subsequently develop SLE.

Lupus panniculitis or lupus profundus, is a rare variety of cutaneous lupus that primarily affects subcutaneous fat. Diagnosis can be difficult as serology is often normal and needs histologic confirmation.

5th National Conference of Pediatric Rheumatology - Conference Abstracts. Pediatric Oncall [serial online] 2007 [cited 15 December 2007(Supplement 12)];4. Available from:
http://www.pediatriconcall.com/fordoctor/Conference_abstracts/ncpr/
sle.asp