Pulmonary hemorrhage in systemic lupus erythematosus.

In order to assess the clinical characteristics and survival rate of pulmonary hemorrhage (PH) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we studied SLE patients who developed this complication. We found 34 patients within a total lupus cohort of 630 patients. All the patients had severe respiratory failure. We identified three different treatment regimens: (a) oral prednisone (1 mg/kg); (b) conventional methylprednisolone (3 g total dose) and (c) massive methylprednisolone (> 4 g). The overall survival rate was 38.2% and it was correlated with the massive regimen and early treatment (within the first 48 h after the onset of the acute event).