This article is part of the supplement: Lupus 2012: New targets, new approaches

Meeting abstract

Hopkins Lupus Cohort: assessment of treatment effects

M Petri

  • Correspondence: M Petri

Author Affiliations

Johns Hopkins, Baltimore MD USA

Arthritis Research & Therapy 2012, 14(Suppl 3):A52 doi:10.1186/ar3986


The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://arthritis-research.com/content/14/S3/A52


Published:27 September 2012

© 2012 Petri; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Introduction

The Hopkins Lupus Cohort is a longitudinal study in which all SLE patients are seen quarterly, by protocol, by one rheumatologist. The specific aims include prevention of organ damage. In this abstract, two projects - noncalcified plaque (NCP) and treatment of antiphospholipid antibodies - will be reviewed.

Methods

For the study on NCP, 64-slice (n = 106) or 320-slice (n = 121) coronary multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) was performed in 227 patients with SLE. The MDCT scans were evaluated quantitatively by a radiologist, using dedicated software. The NCP score was a sum of plaque severity multiplied by the plaque composition divided by the number of vessels examined.

For the study on treatment of antiphospholipid antibodies, we studied 1,795 SLE patients (56% Caucasian, 37% African American, 93.3% female, mean age 37.0 ± 12.5) with no previous thrombosis prior to entry in the cohort. The primary outcome was first thrombotic event (arterial or venous). Univariate analysis and multivariable modeling were used to examine associations between prednisone, hydroxycholoquine, and NSAID use with the risk of thrombosis.

Results

The multiple regression model for the mean level of NCP is shown in Table 1. The multiple regression model for prevention of thrombosis is presented in Table 2.

Table 1.

Table 2.

Conclusion

For NCP, methotrexate increased NCP, possibly via homocysteine. For thrombosis, hydroxychloroquine significantly reduced thrombosis, but prednisone increased it. SLE longitudinal cohorts can address many clinical questions that are not suitable for clinical trials.