Assessment of 10-year mortality causes among inpatients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a potentially life-threatening systemic autoimmune disease that increases the patient’s risk of mortality if left untreated. This study examined the causes of mortality over 10 years in rheumatologic hospitals as referral centers for patients from southern Iran.Medical records and death certificates of patients diagnosed with SLE as the underlying cause of death were retrospectively assessed. Patients were of similar ages (more than 16 years) and had been admitted to Hafez, Shahid Faghihi, or Namazi teaching hospital (affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences) during the 10-year period from April 2001 to March 2011.A total of 101 (3.3%) SLE inpatients (from 3026 admissions) died in the named hospitals during the study period. Approximately nine deaths had occurred per year. Among them were 85 females and 16 males (female-to-male ratio of 5.3:1). The mean patient age was 36.9±12.8 years (ranging from 16-85) on admission before death. Moreover, the mean disease duration was 5.4±5.8 years. Dyspnea, a decrease in the level of consciousness, chills, and fever were the chief complaints of the majority of patients upon admission. Infections (34.7%) and cardiovascular diseases (28.7%) were the most common causes of death.Infections followed by cardiovascular diseases are still the most frequent causes of in-hospital deaths in SLE patients. No in-hospital deaths occurred due to malignancy during this study.