SYSTEMIC LUPUS erythematosus (SLE) has long been regarded as a disease primarily of young women. It is also well known that men develop SLE less frequently, but little attention has been given to the age at which they acquire the malady. Case reviews of patients suffering from SLE at two widely separated teaching hospitals indicated that the disorder is indeed prevalent among young women, but seems to strike men at random with no apparent concentration in any age group. As a result, a review of the literature was undertaken to determine whether this pattern occurred in other series of patients. Method The medical records of the University of Virginia Hospital and the Salt Lake County General Hospital were reviewed for all patients with the clinical diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Only those patients in whom the diagnoses were supported by a positive lupus erythematosus (LE) cell preparation and/or positive autopsy