Authors
Frédéric A Houssiau, Carlos Vasconcelos, David D'Cruz, Gian Domenico Sebastiani, Enrique de Ramon Garrido, Maria Giovanna Danieli, Daniel Abramovicz, Daniel Blockmans, Alessandro Mathieu, Haner Direskeneli, Mauro Galeazzi, Ahmet Gül, Yair Levy, Peter Petera, Rajko Popovic, Radmila Petrovic, Renato Alberto Sinico, Roberto Cattaneo, Josep Font, Geneviève Depresseux, Jean‐Pierre Cosyns, Ricard Cervera
Publication date
2002/8
Journal
Arthritis & Rheumatism
Volume
46
Issue
8
Pages
2121-2131
Publisher
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
Description
Objective
Glomerulonephritis is a severe manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that is usually treated with an extended course of intravenous (IV) cyclophosphamide (CYC). Given the side effects of this regimen, we evaluated the efficacy and the toxicity of a course of low‐dose IV CYC prescribed as a remission‐inducing treatment, followed by azathioprine (AZA) as a remission‐maintaining treatment.
Methods
In this multicenter, prospective clinical trial (the Euro‐Lupus Nephritis Trial [ELNT]), we randomly assigned 90 SLE patients with proliferative glomerulonephritis to a high‐dose IV CYC regimen (6 monthly pulses and 2 quarterly pulses; doses increased according to the white blood cell count nadir) or a low‐dose IV CYC regimen (6 fortnightly pulses at a fixed dose of 500 mg), each of which was followed by AZA. Intent‐to‐treat analyses were performed.
Results
Followup continued for a median …
Total citations
Scholar articles
FA Houssiau, C Vasconcelos, D D'Cruz, GD Sebastiani… - Arthritis & Rheumatism, 2002