Incidence of Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus, 1965-2005

Abstract

Lupus erythematosus (LE) represents a disease entity that is described by very specific clinical findings and distinct patterns of both cellular and humoral immunity.¹ Clinical manifestations of LE have been shown to range from mild effects, such as disease limited to the skin in cutaneous LE (CLE), to the serious and possibly life-threatening manifestations that can be found in acute systemic LE (SLE).¹ Systemic LE is defined on the basis of the 1982 criteria of the American College of Rheumatology.² Cutaneous LE is defined as isolated cutaneous lupus lesions occurring in the absence of significant evidence of SLE.