Intravenous cyclophosphamide for lupus nephritis in Thai children

European evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of childhood-onset lupus nephritis: the SHARE initiative

Lupus nephritis (LN) occurs in 50%-60% of patients with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE), leading to significant morbidity. Timely recognition of renal involvement and appropriate treatment are essential to prevent renal damage. The Single Hub and Access point for paediatric Rheumatology in Europe (SHARE) initiative aimed to generate diagnostic and management regimens for children and adolescents with rheumatic diseases including cSLE. Here, we provide evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of childhood LN. Recommendations were developed using the European League Against Rheumatism standard operating procedures. A European-wide expert committee including paediatric nephrology representation formulated recommendations using a nominal group technique. Six recommendations regarding diagnosis and 20 recommendations covering treatment choices and goals were accepted, including each class of LN, described in the International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology Society 2003 classification system. Treatment goal should be complete renal response. Treatment of class I LN should mainly be guided by other symptoms. Class II LN should be treated initially with low-dose prednisone, only adding a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug after 3 months of persistent proteinuria or prednisone dependency. Induction treatment of class III/IV LN should be mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) or intravenous cyclophosphamide combined with corticosteroids; maintenance treatment should be MMF or azathioprine for at least 3 years. In pure class V LN, MMF with low-dose prednisone can be used as induction and MMF as maintenance treatment. The SHARE recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of LN have been generated to support uniform and high-quality care for all children with SLE.

Review: Measuring permanent damage in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus

The survival rates in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE) have improved greatly over recent decades. Increased life expectancy has meant that more children are growing up with the consequences of chronic disease and prolonged therapy. Assessing complications of disease and its therapy becomes an important outcome measure by which to evaluate our therapeutic interventions and appraise quality of life.

In this paper we review the development of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborative Clinics (SLICC)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Damage Index (SDI) and its application to the pSLE population. We examine the profile of damage in pSLE as identified by the SDI. However we also critically appraise its application and identify potential limitations in the SDI as a measure of permanent disease damage in children. In this paper we put forth suggestions for additional domains addressing pediatric specific issues such as decreased final height and delayed puberty. We also suggest modifications to domains of gonadal failure, diabetes mellitus, cognitive impairment and osteonecrosis in the SDI to make it more reflective of the damage phenomenon observed in pediatrics. Lupus (2007) 16: 657—662.

Intravenous cyclophosphamide combined with steroids in pediatric onset severe lupus nephritis

Background

Intravenous cyclophosphamide (IVCY) has been used to treat severe lupus nephritis (LN) for many years. Because of the wide variety of manifestations of the condition and the long-term nature of the disease, outcomes vary widely.

Objective

To evaluate and compare the immediate and long-term results of IVCY in pediatric onset severe LN and between patients with normal and abnormal initial renal function.

Methods

Patients aged <18 years who attended the Department of Pediatrics, Prince of Songkla University, diagnosed with severe LN, and who were given a 36-month IVCY course, were included. Comparison of overall survival between the two groups was assessed using Kaplan–Meier survival curves.

Results

108 patients with a mean age of 12.6 ± 2.7 years were studied, with a mean follow-up time of 5.7 ± 4.3 years. 48 patients completed the IVCY course. 36 patients had abnormal renal function and 72 patients had normal renal function at the start of therapy. Both groups responded well initially to treatment; proteinuria reduced to normal levels after 1 and 2 treatments in the normal and abnormal groups, respectively, while creatinine clearance returned to normal levels after 8 treatments in the abnormal group. Overall survival was not different between the two groups; however, the abnormal renal function group had a higher crude mortality rate than the normal group (13/36 vs 10/72, p value = 0.02). At the time of analysis, some patients who had completed their IVCY course still required other therapy to control their disease activity.

Conclusion

Three years of IVCY treatment provided similar outcomes in both normal and abnormal renal function groups. Immediate outcomes were favorable but long-term remission was not promising.

The use of low-dose cyclophosphamide followed by AZA/MMF treatment in childhood lupus nephritis

Cyclophosphamide (CYC) has been the landmark in the treatment of lupus nephritis. However, long-term treatment with CYC is associated with significant side effects. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of short-term intravenous (IV) CYC treatment as a remission induction treatment followed by azathioprine (AZA) or mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) as a maintenance treatment. Twenty patients (18 girls) with biopsy-proven class III (5) and IV (15) lupus nephritis were included in to the study. Detailed clinical and laboratory data and patient outcomes were evaluated. All patients received three methylprednisolone (MP) IV pulses, followed by oral prednisone 0.5-1 mg/kg per day and one IV pulse of CYC per month for 6 months. Azathioprine was started as a remission-maintaining treatment. In ten of 20 patients, treatment was switched to MMF. The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 16.11 +/- 3.49 years, and the mean duration of follow-up was 49.6 +/- 27 months. Fourteen patients (70%) had complete remission, three (15%) had partial remission, one (5%) continued to have active disease, and two (10%) progressed to end-stage renal disease. Nine of the patients (45%) with complete remission had received AZA, and switching to MMF increased complete remission rate (additional five patients; 25%). In conclusion, short-term (6-month) IV bolus CYC treatment followed by AZA is a safe and effective treatment in children with severe lupus nephritis, and using MMF increases remission rate in resistant cases.

Fatal infection in children with lupus nephritis treated with intravenous cyclophosphamide

A knowledge of the causes and risk factors of fatal infection in childhood lupus nephritis (LN) patients treated with intravenous cyclophosphamide (IVCY) is important to enable optimal treatment. During an 11-year period (1996-2007), severe infection cases occurred in 31/84 (36.9%) patients with 64 infection episodes in our central referral institution in southern Thailand. Fatal infections occurred in 13/31 (41.9%) patients, most (11/13, 84.6%) during the first infective episode. The major causative organisms of the fatal infections were fungus and Gram-negative bacilli. Fatal infections were more likely to occur in patients with a prior history of treatment with pulse methylprednisolone and in patients with more active LN, as evidenced by the higher proteinuria and serum creatinine levels and lower hemoglobin and lymphocyte counts in this group than in patients with non-fatal infections. Multivariate analysis indicated that factors associated with fatal infection were prior treatment with pulse methylprednisolone [odds ratio (OR) 11.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9-61.0], renal failure (OR 5.9, 95% CI 1.0-34.8), and fungal infection (OR 23.9, 95% CI 1.9-298.2). Cases of active LN treated with IVCY and pulse methylprednisolone who later develop severe infection that fails to respond to antibiotics should be carefully investigated for fungal infection.

Clinicopathological correlations of paediatric lupus nephritis

The International Society of Nephrology and Renal Pathology Society Working Group revised the histopathological classification of lupus nephritis (LN) in 2003. We studied the clinical outcome of 39 children (85% female) aged 3.3-18.0 (median 13.7) years who underwent 49 percutaneous renal biopsies at 0.1-7.8 (median 1.0) years from diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at our centre over 10 years. All renal biopsies were reviewed and reclassified according to the new criteria by one histopathologist: 2%, 13%, 15%, 51% and 20% of all cases were classes I-V, respectively (with no cases of class VI LN) and 12% overlap cases (4% classes III and V, 8% classes IV and V). Patients were followed up for 1.3-15.4 (median 5.5) years with renal and overall survival rates of 90% and 92%, respectively. Half of the children with LN have features of class IV LN, with diffuse global (class IV-G) LN associated with the worst clinical outcome and the three most severe cases of chronic renal failure with estimated glomerular filtration rates (GFRs) <25 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) in patients with diffuse global sclerosing [class IV-G(C)] LN. The new classification allows expanded histopathological grading of LN with further delineation of classes III and IV with activity and chronicity indices.