[Diagnostic and therapeutic problems in lupus nephritis].

A review of the SLE in the paediatric age in performed to underline the peculiarity of the disease in children: age, frequency, symptomatology, renal histology, clinical course, therapy and correlated side effects are reported according to literature data. The A.A. describe six cases of lupus nephritis, observed in the last few years, which confirm the diagnostic difficulties and the wide variety in the evolution of the disease. A favourable course of the disease was obtained in three cases, with corticosteroid and immuno-depressive treatment (used in association and/or alternatively); a fourth case developed some therapeutic complications among which an avascular bilateral bone necrosis, leucopenia, alopecia and herpes zoster. In two cases the SLE led to chronic renal failure owing to many relapses of the disease, enhanced by therapeutic break or dosage reduction. A careful surveillance of these patients is of fundamental importance in the management of the disease in order to obtain the longer survival and the lesser side effects.