Lupus Erythematosus (LE)

• LE is the designation of a spectrum of disease patterns that are linked by distinct clinical findings and distinct patterns of cellular and humoral autoimmunity.
• LE occurs more commonly in women (male to female ratio 1:9).
• LE ranges from life-threatening manifestations of acute systemic LE (SLE) to the limited and exclusive skin involvement in chronic cutaneous LE (CCLE) (Fig. 14-26). More than 85% of patients with LE have skin lesions, which can be classified into LE specific and nonspecific.
• An abbreviated version of Gilliam classification of LE-specific skin lesions is given in Table 14-3.
• Acute cutaneous LE (ACLE) is practically always associated with SLE, subacute cutaneous LE (SCLE) in about 50%, and CCLE most often has only skin disease. However, CCLE lesions can occur in SLE.
• ACLE and SCLE are highly photosensitive.