Musculoskeletal System
Often the first complaint of
patients is of polyarthralgia with morning stiffness, this may precede the
onset of multisystem disease by many years.
More than 90% of the patients with SLE experience arthritis, swelling is
accompanied by joint and muscle pain, and stiffness. Lupus-related arthritis
can cause deformities in the appearance of the fingers, “ulnar deviation, and
subluxation with hyperlaxity of the joints” (Lewis et al., 2004, p. 1739).
Cardiopulmonary System
Patients may experience tachypnea
and coughing which may suggest restrictive lung disease. There is also a
possibility of pleurisy with or without pleural effusion. Arrhythmias may be noted due to cardiac
involvement and the fibronosis of the sinoatrial and atrioventricular
nodes. When this occurs it is an ominous
sign of the advancing of the disease.
Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia should be monitored closely and
treated aggressively if found. SLE can
accelerate coronary artery disease and the risk of developing coronary artery
disease (Lewis et al., 2004).
Renal System
Within one year of diagnosis many
patients will be found to have lupus nephritis (LN). This can be very mild with proteinuria to
rapid, progressive glomerulonephritis. According to Lewis et al. nearly all patients
that were diagnosed with SLE will show renal histologic abnormalities when an
autopsy is performed (Lewis et al., 2004).
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