Demographic, Clinical and Immunological Manifestations of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus among Omani Population Single Tertiary Care Experience

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the demographic, clinical and immunological manifestations of SLE among the Omani population and to compare the results with a previous study in 2003and global data. METHODOLOGY: This retrospective study included patients aged >12 years old with SLE who complied with the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics SLE criteria and presented to the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman between January- December 2016. The cumulative frequency of disease manifestations and auto antibodies was determined. Published studies evaluating SLE manifestations in other countries (Gulf countries, India, UK, Italy and Australia) were collected for comparison. RESULTS: A total of 285 patients were included in this study, 256 (89.5%) were female and 29 (10.5%) were male with a female: male ratio of 9:1. The median age was 33 years (age range: 14-69). The 10 year survival rate was found to be 99% with 6.8% of patients lost to follow up. More than 60% of the patients were from two highly populated regions: Al Batinah (37%) and Muscat (24%) governorate. The cumulative frequency of the clinical manifestations was as follows: haematological manifestations (63%), arthritis (62%), renal manifestations (44%), serositis (12.3%), alopecia (26.3%), rash (31%), oral ulcers (11.9%) and neurological disorders (15%). The cumulative frequency of the detected auto-antibodies was as follows: anti-nuclear antibodies(98%), anti-double stranded DNA (81%), extractable nuclear antigens (89%), anti-histone (37%), anti-smith (25%), anti-Sjögren's syndrome A (36%), anti-Sjögren's syndrome B(10.6%), anti-nucleosome (35%) and anti-Ribosomal antibodies (23%). CONCLUSION: Comparing the above results to other studies, clinical and immunological manifestations of SLE in Oman are similar to other Gulf countries. There is an increased frequency of visceral (renal and neurological) involvement in the Gulf region compared to other geographic areas around the world. KEY WORDS: Systemic lupus erythematosus, Clinical and immunological manifestations, Oman.