Natural history of "silent" lupus nephritis.

Twenty patients with systemic lupus erythematosus but without evident renal involvement previously underwent percutaneous renal biopsy. Findings revealed almost universal pathologic evidence of nephritis. Included were three patients who had diffuse proliferative changes and five who had subendothelial electron dense deposits. Only four patients developed clinical renal disease during the follow-up period while no patient died or required dialysis. Using the Life Table Method, the cumulative percentage of patients free from any clinical renal disease was over 60% at 10 yr from the time of diagnosis of systemic lupus, and at 8 yr from the time of the original biopsy. It is concluded that silent lupus nephritis, regardless of histologic subtype, has a favorable prognosis. These data may not be applicable to patients with similar biopsies who have evidence of clinical lupus nephritis.