Lymphopenia is a frequent manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. The aim was to identify the correlation between lymphopenia and clinical and paraclinical manifestations, and to assess the prognosis of patients in the University Hospitals of Antananarivo.
This was an analytical, retrospective, longitudinal study from January 2010 to January 2021. Lupus patients with lymphopenia <1500/mm3 constituted the exposed group and those with levels ≥1500/mm3 represented the unexposed group. Relative Risk (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.
During this period, the incidence of lymphopenia was 22.22%. The mean age of lupus patients with lymphopenia was 35.9 years versus 39.9 years for patients without lymphopenia (p=0.050). Lymphopenia was associated with certain visceral disorders, such as cardiovascular (p=0.001), digestive (p=0.041) and hematological (p=0.011) disorders. Lymphopenia twice increased mortality in lupus patients (RR=2 and p=0.016). The SLEDAI score was greater than 6 in 82.5% of lupus patients with lymphopenia vs. 20.7% in the group without lymphopenia. Lymphopenia tripled the risk of flare-ups in lupus patients, and this association was statistically significant.
Lymphocyte counts in systemic lupus erythematosus would be useful in assessing disease activity and prognosis of patient survival.
Clinical, Longitudinal study, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Lymphopenia, Prognosis
Armel Mamihaja Andrianiaina, et al. (2025). Clinical Implications and Prognostic Value of Lymphopenia in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: a Study in Madagascar. J Medical Case Repo 7(1):1-5. DOI : https://doi.org/10.47485/2767-5416.1098