Protein losing enteropathy as the initial manifestation of childhood systemic lupus erythematosus.

JF Molina, RF Brown, A Gedalia… - The Journal of …, 1996 - europepmc.org
JF Molina, RF Brown, A Gedalia, LR Espinoza
The Journal of Rheumatology, 1996europepmc.org
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem organ disease, and involvement of the
gastrointestinal system is relatively rare. We describe a 13-year-old girl who presented
initially with abdominal pain, diarrhea, edema, and hypoalbuminemia. She was diagnosed
with protein losing enteropathy (PLE) based on the significant increase of alpha 1-antitrypsin
clearance in the stool. Two weeks after admission she developed clinical and serological
findings that fulfilled the ACR criteria for SLE. Over 22 cases of lupus associated PLE have …
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem organ disease, and involvement of the gastrointestinal system is relatively rare. We describe a 13-year-old girl who presented initially with abdominal pain, diarrhea, edema, and hypoalbuminemia. She was diagnosed with protein losing enteropathy (PLE) based on the significant increase of alpha 1-antitrypsin clearance in the stool. Two weeks after admission she developed clinical and serological findings that fulfilled the ACR criteria for SLE. Over 22 cases of lupus associated PLE have now been reported, but only 3 in children. Children with PLE should be evaluated for SLE. In addition, PLE should be suspected as a possible cause of unexplained edema and/or hypoalbuminemia in SLE.
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