Diallo M*, Diatta BA, Diop A, Ndiaye MT, Ndiaye M, Seck B, Deh A, Diop K, Ly F and Niang SO
Introduction:In Africa, an increase in the incidence of lupus erythematosus has been noted in recent years. Very few studies have been conducted on epidemiological and clinical aspects of this disease in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to report the epidemiological, clinical and evolutionary aspects of lupus disease in an African Black population.
Materials and methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study including all cases of lupus seen in two departments of Dermatology in Dakar from 1999 to 2015.
Results: Three hundred and forty cases were recorded, corresponding to a hospital frequency of 0.05%. The average age was 33 years. The sex ratio was 0.17. The various manifestations were: dermatological (89.4%), rheumatological (33.2%), cardiac (5.8%), renal (12%), respiratory (5.6%), neuropsychiatric (4.7%), digestive (2.6%), hematological (70%) and immunological (56.2%). Lupus was associated with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (35%), dermatomyositis (26.3%), rheumatoid arthritis (17.5%) and scleroderma (21%). Patients were treated with corticosteroids (92%), immunosuppressive (12%) and synthetic antimalarial drugs (88.2%). A remission was noted in 80%. The complications were an infection (20.5%) and the occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma (0.8%). Death occurred in 2.6%.
Conclusion: Lupus erythematosus is a frequent condition in our regions and represents the first connective tissue disease in our department. Systemic lupus erythematosus is by far the most frequent form, followed by chronic lupus, while subacute lupus seems very rare. The disease is often severe with frequent visceral involvements. The prognosis is still poor in our regions due to the delayed diagnosis with frequent renal involvement and frequent infectious complications.
