[Evolution and current characteristics of the clinical picture and course of systemic lupus erythematosus in children].

Altogether 506 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) aged one to fifteen years were observed from 1961 to 1985 at the clinic of child's diseases of the I. M. Sechenov First Moscow Medical Institute. The disease was noted to undergo evolution during 25 years. The clinical picture and the course of SLE in children were elucidated. It is shown that the disease activity and acuity lessened while the patients' survival increased. The clinical picture became less marked. The rate of the signs characteristic of SLE (Libman-Sacks endocarditis, the nephrotic syndrome, severe lesions of the nervous system, exudative pleurisy and pericarditis) also reduced. The characteristics thus revealed should be taken into consideration in the diagnosis and treatment of SLE.