Patients diagnosed with SLE earlier in life, including those with juvenile-onset disease, are significantly more likely to develop lupus nephritis — but not necessarily to die from it, a study shows.

In a retrospective survival analysis of afflicted individuals, UK researchers investigated the factors influencing the risk of death in SLE over a period of 40 years.

They drew upon data for 496 patients treated at the University College London Hospital’s lupus clinic between 1979 and 2019, with maximum follow-up out to 40 years, although the average was 16 years.

The median age at start of follow-up was 28 years, and 92% were women.