Korean J Dermatol.
1997 Feb;35(1):90-95.
Clinical Features of Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus among Koreans
Abstract
- BACKGROUND
The proportion of patients with subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus(SCLE) is considered to be 10% among the total LE population in western countries. The morphology of LE-specific skin lesions in SCLE : appear as papulosquamous erythema or annular erythema developing mostly on the exposed areas. Among Korean patients with LE the prevalence and the pattern of cutaneous eruption of SCLE may be different from those patients of western countries.
OBJECTIVE
To obtain the prevalence and the morphological characteristics of cutaneous lesions in Korean patients with SCI E v;ere the main objectives.
METHODS
With 7 cases of SCLE, clinical dermatologic examinations for the character, the distribution, and the clinical course of those cutaneous lesions, and for the extent of systemic symptoms and LE-related laboratory abnormalities in each patient were performed.
Results
/Coeclusion. The prevalence of SCLE among Korean patients with LE or latent LE was much lower than those seen in Caucasians. The pattern of cutaneous lesions were papular/ papulosquamous erythemas with no (or rare) cases of annular erytherna among those patients diagnosed as SCLE. ~Other cl~inica! features were similar to Caucasian patients. It seems that there are some racial differences in the cutaneous manifestat.ions of LE, which may be relevant to the dissimilarities in immunogenetic backgrounds between different racial groups.
