Long-term outcome in systemic lupus erythematosus membranous glomerulonephritis. Lupus Nephritis Collaborative Study Group.

The pathology of membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may be complicated by superimposed glomerular inflammation and/or necrosis. This retrospective study examined whether various histologic patterns of glomerulonephritis (GN) seen on renal biopsy impact upon the prognosis of these patients. Clinical parameters at the time of biopsy were also studied, to determine which might serve as risk factors associated with renal and patient outcome. On the basis of renal biopsy findings, patients were stratified into three pathological study groups by using the World Health Organization (WHO) classification (11). Thirty-six patients had "pure' SLE MGN without (WHO Va) or with (WHO Vb) mesangial hypercellularity. Fifteen patients had SLE MGN with segmental endocapillary proliferation and/or necrosis in < 50% of glomeruli (WHO Vc < 50%). Twenty-eight patients had SLE MGN with endocapillary proliferation and/or necrosis in > or = 50% of glomeruli (MGN with segmental proliferation and/or necrosis in > 50%, WHO Vc > or = 50%, or MGN with superimposed diffuse endocapillary proliferation, WHO Vd). There were no significant differences in sex, age, or race among patients in the three study groups. There was a trend for increasing serum creatinine concentration, urine protein excretion, and diastolic blood pressure, and decreasing the third component of serum complement (C3) to be associated with increasing glomerular inflammation, and these differences were significant when Vc > or = 50% and Vd was compared with Va and Vb (P < 0.05). The 5- and 10-yr actuarial survival rates without reaching the study outcomes of death or renal replacement therapy for the three study groups were 86, 72, and 49% and 72, 48, and 20% respectively, and the differences between Va and Vb and Vc > 50% and Vd were significant (P < 0.05). SLE MGN has a heterogeneous course and outcome, and this variability is related to the extent and degree of glomerulonephritis seen on renal biopsy. The only clinical factor with an independent risk of reaching a study outcome was elevation of the initial serum creatinine concentration (Cox regression analysis). This predictive value appears to apply only to patients with the most severe forms of glomerulonephritis, suggesting that they may have a different natural history and/or a response to therapy than SLE MGN with less widespread glomerular inflammation and/or necrosis.