Systemic lupus erythematosus in a black South African child. First documented case report.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is poorly described among black children in Africa despite being more frequent among some black adult populations than their white counterparts. The first black South African child with SLE is documented. The patient was a 10-year-old girl who had fever, facial rash (with complement (C4) deposited at the dermo-epidermal junction of normal skin), weight loss, central nervous system involvement (depression, withdrawal, retinal exudates), renal involvement (glomerular filtration rate 54 ml/min/1.73 m2; membranous nephropathy with mild mesangial proliferation; World Health Organisation classification Vb), alopecia, lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly, positive Coombs test, hypeocomplementaemia, anti-DNA antibodies and positive anti-nuclear factor.