Tapering or stopping therapy ‘high risk for flares’ in lupus

The findings highlight the complexity of managing these patients and the influence of demographic as well as clinical factors on outcomes, researchers say

Patients with lupus who continue on hydroxychloroquine maintenance rather than tapering or quitting the medication have substantially lower risk of disease flares, researchers say.

Their real-world study, which is the first to demonstrate such a relationship in incident SLE, also suggests that prior prednisone use ups the likelihood of flares.