Sapporo Medical Journal

Abstract : Context: Hematological damage is common in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and does not result from hemolytic anemia alone. In order to report the experience of the Libreville University Hospital, we conducted a study to determine the hematological manifestations that may be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus in patients followed in Gabon. Patients and method : Retrospective descriptive study , carried out on files of lupus patients hospitalized in the internal medicine department of Libreville University Hospital for 2 years. It was included: any patient aged over 15 years, regardless of sex, hospitalized for SLE. Data analysis by Epi-info version 3.5. Results : A total of 51 lupus patient files were collected. There were 43 women and 8 men, giving a sex ratio of 0.19. The 20-29 year old age group, comprising 37.3% of the workforce, was the most representative. Lupus disease was found to be insidious in 78.4% and brutal in 21.6%. Anemia was present in 40 out of 51 patients. Anemia was severe in 18 patients with a mean hemoglobin level of 6.2g/dl, moderate in 16 patients and mild in 6 patients. It was microcytic normochrome in 50% of cases, normocytic normochrome in 22.5%. Inflammatory causes represented 37.5% of patients. Conclusion : Hematological damage remains common in lupus and must be carefully investigated. Our study showed that more than half of lupus patients had anemia and. its causes, probably multifactorial, are dominated by an inflammatory mechanism.