Orbital panniculitis as the initial manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Inflammation of the fat in lupus erythematosus also known as lupus erythematosus profundus (panniculitis) is a rare clinical entity. As the presenting feature of lupus, it is even more unusual. In this report, we describe an elderly woman who presented with an orbital mass infiltrate as the initial manifestation of lupus that had the classical histological features of lupus panniculitis.