Cross-sectional Analysis of a Collaborative Web-Based Database for Lupus Erythematosus–Associated Skin Lesions

Abstract

Lupus erythematosus (LE) is a potentially disabling autoimmune disease that presents clinically as a spectrum ranging from mild involvement with only localized discoid skin lesions to life-threatening illness with severe systemic manifestations. Although the prevalence of systemic LE (SLE) is 17 to 48 per 100 000 worldwide, cutaneous LE is estimated to be as much as 2 to 3 times more common than SLE itself.¹ Skin disease is the second most common clinical manifestation of LE as well as the second most common primary presenting symptom of LE.²