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Discoid lupus erythematosus in the Nigerians
Author(s) -
JACYK W.K.,
DAMISAH M.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1979.tb05550.x
Subject(s) - nigerians , medicine , discoid lupus erythematosus , dermatology , lupus erythematosus , systemic lupus erythematosus , immunology , antibody , disease , political science , law
SUMMARY Results of a detailed clinical and laboratory study of 37 Nigerian patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus are presented. Patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus constituted 0·46% of all out‐patients seen in the skin clinic between May 1974 and December 1977. A preponderance of females was noticed (female/male ratio of 5:1), while the age distribution of African patients corresponded to values characteristic for the condition seen in other geographical regions. Several morphological types of the condition have been seen. The vitiligoid variant of chronic discoid lupus erythematosus seems to be common in West Africans. Sixteen out of 37 patients presented laboratory abnormalities considered as markers of the association between chronic and systemic lupus erythematosus. Their significance, however is, uncertain as it has been demonstrated on several occasions that in a tropical milieu heavy parasitic infections produce marked immunological disturbances. The problem of the relationship between chronic and systemic lupus erythematosus is discussed and the literature on the incidence of chronic discoid lupus erythematosus in various African countries is reviewed.