Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pediatric onset Systemic lupus erythematosus (p-SLE) is multisystem autoimmune disease with disease onset before the 18th birthday. It is a highly complex disease with marked heterogeneity between patients, causing anything from mild to life-threatening disease. OBJECTIVE: To assess thrombomodulin (TM) and D-dimer levels in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus patients and their correlation to disease activity. METHODS: This study included 40 children diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus. They were grouped according to the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) score into group (A) [Mild activity] included 20 children with SLEDAI score less than or equal to 4, group (B) [Moderate-high activity] included 20 children with SLEDAI score >4. Also, 40 apparently healthy children were included as a control group. They were age and sex matched, with the children having SLE. RESULTS: The two studied groups had significantly higher TM level than controls, furthermore group B had significantly higher TM level than group A (p< 0.008 in all). The two studied groups had significantly higher frequency of abnormally high TM level than controls, furthermore group B significantly had higher frequency of abnormally high TM level than group A (p< 0.02 in all). SLE children had significantly higher D dimer level than controls, furthermore group B had significantly higher D dimer level than group A (p≤ 0.006 in all). The two studied groups had significantly higher frequency of abnormally high D dimer level than controls, furthermore group B had significantly higher frequency of abnormally high D dimer level than group A (p≤ 0.03 in all). TM had a significant positive correlation with SLEDAI score as r = 0.342 and p = 0.031. D dimer had a significant positive correlation with SLEDAI score as r = 0.42 and p = 0.007. CONCLUSION: Thrombomodulin and D dimer are potentially valuable markers of the disease activity and thrombotic tendency in p SLE patients. Thus, regular evaluation may be useful for early detection of thrombotic complications.