Discoid Lupus Erythematosus

Abstract

Eighty patients with discoid lupus erythematosus (LE) were surveyed clinically and serologically for evidence of systemic involvement. The incidence of autoantibodies to three thyroid constituents, gastric parietal cells, and cell nuclei (ANF) were compared in the patients and controls matched for age and sex. There was a threefold increase in positive ANF in the patients of both sexes, but the incidence of thyroid antibodies was increased only in female patients. Fourteen of the patients were considered to have mild systemic involvement, but there was no evidence of progression from chronic discoid LE or from this intermediate state to systemic LE in this series followed up for 2-30 years.