Clinical characteristics op patients with systemic lupus erythematosus associated with osteonecrosis

In a cross-sectional study of 103 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 31 (30%) of whom had osteonecrosis (ON), our specific aim was to identify clinical characteristics which differentiated patients with and without ON. Patients with ON differed from those without ON for superficial thrombophlebitis (14* vs 0%, p=.002), vasculitis (40% vs 15%, p=.01), and pre-eclampsia (30% vs 12%, p.054). SLE patients with ON were more likely to be cigarette smokers than those without ON (43% vs 23%, p=.035). Changes in body habitus induced by corticosteroid therapy were much more common in SLE patients with ON than those without ON, cushingoid (87% vs 45%, p=.004), moon faciès (78% vs 45%, p=.004), buffalo hump (31% vs 11%, p=.02), truncal obesity (46% vs 25%, p*.04), and osteopenia (26% vs 8%, p=.03). Changes in body habitus in response to corticosteroid therapy and clinical evidence of venous thrombosis and vasculitis appeared to be associated with the development of ON in patients with SLE.