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Lupus retinopathy: epidemiology and risk factors

Retinopatia lúpica: epidemiologia e fatores de risco

ABSTRACT

Lupus retinopathy is a clinical manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus in the visual system. It is generally asymptomatic; however, it can become a threatening condition. It is closely associated with the inflammatory activity and higher mortality of systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus retinopathy has several different clinical presentations, such as lupus microangiopathy, vascular occlusion, vasculitis, hypertensive retinopathy associated with lupus nephritis, and autoimmune retinopathy. Although the prevalence and associated factors of lupus retinopathy have been well defined in some parts of the world, there are no data from Latin America, including Brazil. As lupus retinopathy is generally asymptomatic, without a routine fundoscopy, it has been probably underestimated. This review is intended to discuss the epidemiology and risk factors of lupus retinopathy.

Keywords:
Lupus erythematosus, systemic/epidemiology; Retinal diseases; Risk factors

RESUMO

A retinopatia lúpica é uma manifestação clínica do lúpus eritematoso sistêmico no sistema visual. Geralmente assintomática, porém pode ser uma condição ameaçadora à visão. Está intimamente associada à atividade inflamatória do lúpus eritematoso sistêmico e ao aumento da mortalidade. A retinopatia lúpica tem diversas apresentações clínicas, como a microangiopatia lúpica, oclusão vascular, vasculite, retinopatia hipertensiva associada à nefrite lúpica e retinopatia autoimune. A prevalência e os fatores associados à retinopatia lúpica estão bem definidos em algumas partes do mundo. No entanto, esses dados são pouco conhecidos na América Latina, incluindo o Brasil. Como a retinopatia lúpica é geralmente assintomática, sem a fundoscopia de rotina, provavelmente esta é subestimada. O objetivo desta revisão é discutir a epidemiologia e fatores de risco para retinopatia lúpica.

Descritores:
Lúpus eritematoso sistêmico/epidemiologia; Doenças retinianas; Fatores de risco

INTRODUCTION

Lupus retinopathy (LR) is an ophthalmic presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)(11 Palejwala NV, Walia HS, Yeh S. Ocular manifestations of systemic lúpus erythematosus: a review of the lit-erature. Autoimmune Dis. 2012;2012:1-9.

2 Kharel Sitaula) R, Shah DN, Singh D. Role of lupus retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect. 2016;6(1):15-8.

3 Conigliaro P, Cesareo M, Chimenti MS, Triggianese P, Canofari C, Barbato C, et al. Take a look at the eyes in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: a novel point of view. Autoimmun Rev. 2019;18(3)247-54.

4 Dammacco R. Systemic lupus erythematosus and ocular involvement: an overview. Clin Exp Med. 2018;18(2):135-49

5 Lisnevskaia L, Murphy G, Isenberg D. Systemic lupus erythematosus. Lancet. 2014;384(9957):1878-88.

6 Rahman A, Isenberg DA. Systemic lupus erythematosus. N Engl J Med. 2008;358(9):929-39. Comment in: N Engl J Med. 2008; 358(22):2412; author reply 2413.

7 D'Cruz DP, Khamashta MA, Hughes GR. Systemic lupus erythematosus. Lancet. 2007;369(9561):587-96. Comment in: Lancet. 2007; 369(9569):1257-8.

8 Nguyen QD, Foster CS. Lúpus eritematoso sistêmico e o olho. Int Oftalmol Clin. 1998;38(1):33-60.

9 Rosenbaum JT, Trune DR, Barkhuizen A, Lim L. Ocular, aural and oral manifestations. In: Wallace DJ, Hahn BH editors. Dubois's lupus erythematosus and related syndromes, 8th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders;2013. p. 393-400.

10 Malaviya AN, Chandrasekaran AN, Kumar A, Shamar PN. Systemic lupus erythematosus in India. Lupus. 1997;(6):690-700

11 Al-Mayouf SM, Al-Hemidan AI. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Saudi Med J. 2003;(24):964-6.

12 Ropes MW. Systemic lupus erythematosus. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1976.
-1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.) and can be a threatening vision disease. The pathophysiology of LR is believed to be primarily related to the deposition of immune complexes in the retinal microvasculature, lea ding to vascular occlusions, microinfarcts, and retinal vasculitis(1414 Sullivan KE. Genetics of systemic lupus erythematosus: clinical implications. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 2000;26(2):229-56.

15 Walport MJ, Black CM, Batchelor JR. The immunogenetics of SLE. Clin Rheum Dis. 1982;8(1):3-21.

16 Walport MJ. Complement and systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Res. 2002;4(Suppl 3):S279-93.

17 Gross AJ, Hochberg D, Rand WM, Thorley-Lawson DA. EBV and systemic lúpus erythematosus: a new perspective. J Immunol. 2005;174(11):6599-607. Comment in: J Immunol 2005;175(6): 3460; author reply 3461.

18 Bluestein HG, Pischel KD, Woods Jr.VL. Immunopathogenesis of the neuropsychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Springer Semin Immunopathol. 1986;9(2-3):237-49.
-1919 Giorgi D, Pace F, Giorgi A, Bobomo L, Gabrieli CB. Retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus: patho-genesis and approach to therapy. Hum Immunol. 1999;60(8):688-96.).

LR has a broad spectrum of manifestations, ranging from asymptomatic cases to severe visual loss(11 Palejwala NV, Walia HS, Yeh S. Ocular manifestations of systemic lúpus erythematosus: a review of the lit-erature. Autoimmune Dis. 2012;2012:1-9.). In general, LR is bilateral, although it may be unilateral or asymmetric(22 Kharel Sitaula) R, Shah DN, Singh D. Role of lupus retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect. 2016;6(1):15-8.). It is probably associated with disease activity, which can be measured using the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI)(44 Dammacco R. Systemic lupus erythematosus and ocular involvement: an overview. Clin Exp Med. 2018;18(2):135-49). Its criteria are related to clinical manifestations and laboratory results of SLE. The number of criteria found at the time of clinical appointment defines the score, which ranges from 0 to 105 points(2020 Gladman DD, Ibañez D, Urowitz MB. Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index 2000. J Rheu-matol. 2000;29(2):288-91.). Higher scores are associated with severe SLE activity (2121 Bombardier C, Gladman DD, Urowitz MB, Caron D, Chang CH. Derivation of the SLEDAI. A disease activity index for lupus patients. The Committee on Prognosis Studies in SLE. Arthritis Rheum. 1992;35(6):630-40.

22 Tolba DA, El-Fayoumi DM, Abdelaziz MS, Nabih MH. Fluorescein angiographic findings in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus. Ocular Immunol Inflamm. 2017;25(6):884-90.
-2323 Lanham JG, Barrie T, Kohner EM, Hughes GR. SLE retinopathy: evaluation by fluorescein angiography. Ann Rheum Dis. 1982; 41(5):473-8.).

LR is most commonly found in hospitalized patients compared with well-controlled patients and outpatients. A prospective study conducted by Stafford-Brady et al. reported that 88% of patients with LR had active systemic disease and 73% had active central nervous system (CNS) involvement(2424 Uy HS, Chan PS. Systemic Lupus erythemtosus. In: Foster CS, Vitale A. Diagnosis and treatment of uvei-tis. 2nd ed. Delhi: India: Jaypee Brothers Medical; 2012. Cap. 53, p.814-25.

25 Mizuno Y, Nishide M, Wakabayashi T, Nishida K, Kumanogoh A. OCTA, a sensitive screening for asymp-tomatic retinopathy, raises alarm over systemic involvements in patients with SLE. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020;79(2):e17. Comment in: Ann Rheum Dis. 2019; 78(2):287-9.
-2626 Bergmeister R. Uber primare and miliare Tuberkulose der Retina. Wien Med Wchnschr. 1929;79:1116-9.). Although LR generally has good visual prognosis, it is a poor indicator for survival marker(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.).

Clinical presentation of LR

LR has several different presentations. It can be observed as lupus microangiopathy, vascular occlusion, vasculitis, hypertensive retinopathy associated with lupus nephritis(2424 Uy HS, Chan PS. Systemic Lupus erythemtosus. In: Foster CS, Vitale A. Diagnosis and treatment of uvei-tis. 2nd ed. Delhi: India: Jaypee Brothers Medical; 2012. Cap. 53, p.814-25.,2727 Sahu DK. An unusual presentation of lupus retinopathy. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2008;56(1):72-73.

28 Fouad EA, Hanane M, Mounir B, Rachid Z, Karim R, Abdelber O. Severe ischemic retinopathy in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus without antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report. Saudi J Ophthal-mol. 2015;29(2):169-71.

29 Hong-Kee N, Mei-Fong C, Azhany Y, Zunaina E. Antiphospholipid syndrome in lupus retinopathy. Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;(8):2359-63.

30 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.

31 Davies JB, Rao PK. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2008;19(6):512-8.

32 Preble JM, Silpa-Archa S, Foster CS. Ocular involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2015;26(6):540-5.

33 Vine AJm Barr CC. Proliferative lupus retinopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1984;102(6):852-4.
-3434 Lee WJ, Cho HY, Lee YJ, Lee BR, Shin JP. Intravitreal bevacizumab for severe vasoocclusive retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2013;33(1):247-51.), Purtscher-like (PL) retinopathy, and autoimmune retinopathy(3535 Cao X, Bishop RJ, Forooghian F, Cho Y, Fariss RN, Chan CC. Autoimmune retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus: histopathologic features. Open Ophthalmol J. 2009;3:20-5.,3636 Chen JJ, Kumar N, McEvoy KM, Leavitt JA. Papilloedema and autoimmune retinopathy from systemic lu-pus erythematosus. Neuroophthalmology. 2017;18.42(2):117-21.).

Lupus microangiopathy, the most common presentation, manifests as cotton wool spots, microaneurysms, hard exudatese, and intraretinal hemorrhages(2424 Uy HS, Chan PS. Systemic Lupus erythemtosus. In: Foster CS, Vitale A. Diagnosis and treatment of uvei-tis. 2nd ed. Delhi: India: Jaypee Brothers Medical; 2012. Cap. 53, p.814-25.,2727 Sahu DK. An unusual presentation of lupus retinopathy. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2008;56(1):72-73.

28 Fouad EA, Hanane M, Mounir B, Rachid Z, Karim R, Abdelber O. Severe ischemic retinopathy in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus without antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report. Saudi J Ophthal-mol. 2015;29(2):169-71.

29 Hong-Kee N, Mei-Fong C, Azhany Y, Zunaina E. Antiphospholipid syndrome in lupus retinopathy. Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;(8):2359-63.

30 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.

31 Davies JB, Rao PK. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2008;19(6):512-8.

32 Preble JM, Silpa-Archa S, Foster CS. Ocular involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2015;26(6):540-5.

33 Vine AJm Barr CC. Proliferative lupus retinopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1984;102(6):852-4.
-3434 Lee WJ, Cho HY, Lee YJ, Lee BR, Shin JP. Intravitreal bevacizumab for severe vasoocclusive retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2013;33(1):247-51.). Visual acuity is good, unless there is macular involvement, and it generally has good visual prognosis(3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.

38 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.

39 Ushiyama O, Ushiyama K, Koarada S, Tada Y, Suzuki N, Ohta A, et al. Retinal disease in patients with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2000;59(9):705-8.
-4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
).

Cotton wool spots are the clinical manifestation of mi croinfarctions of the retinal nerve fiber layer (Figure 1)(2727 Sahu DK. An unusual presentation of lupus retinopathy. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2008;56(1):72-73.

28 Fouad EA, Hanane M, Mounir B, Rachid Z, Karim R, Abdelber O. Severe ischemic retinopathy in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus without antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report. Saudi J Ophthal-mol. 2015;29(2):169-71.

29 Hong-Kee N, Mei-Fong C, Azhany Y, Zunaina E. Antiphospholipid syndrome in lupus retinopathy. Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;(8):2359-63.

30 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.

31 Davies JB, Rao PK. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2008;19(6):512-8.

32 Preble JM, Silpa-Archa S, Foster CS. Ocular involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2015;26(6):540-5.

33 Vine AJm Barr CC. Proliferative lupus retinopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1984;102(6):852-4.
-3434 Lee WJ, Cho HY, Lee YJ, Lee BR, Shin JP. Intravitreal bevacizumab for severe vasoocclusive retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2013;33(1):247-51.). They are caused by the interruption of the axoplasmic flow in retinal ganglion fibers. It is believed that this occurs due to ischemic retinal vasculitis affecting primarily the retinal arterioles. Although other diseases such as systemic arterial hypertension and diabetes also present with cotton wool spots, the retinal arterioles in these cases are attenuated and may often become occluded, resulting in a more severe ischemia than in SLE(2424 Uy HS, Chan PS. Systemic Lupus erythemtosus. In: Foster CS, Vitale A. Diagnosis and treatment of uvei-tis. 2nd ed. Delhi: India: Jaypee Brothers Medical; 2012. Cap. 53, p.814-25.).

Figure 1
Lupus retinopathy- microangiopathy- cotton wool spots on both eyes.

Purtscher’s retinopathy was initially described as an ischemic retinopathy associated with trauma(4141 Alahmadi RM, Hashim RT, Almogairin SM, Abu AM. Purtscher-like retinopathy as a first presentation of systematic lupus erythematosus. Ann Saudi Med. 2016;36(1):85-8.

42 Kunavisarut P, Pathanapitoon K, Rothova A. Purtscher-like retinopathy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. Ocul Immunol Infamm. 2016;24(1):60-8
-4343 Miguel AI, Henriques F, Azevedo LF, Loureiro AJ, Maberley DA. Systematic review of Purtscher's and Purtscher-like retinopathies. Eye (Lond). 2013;27(1):1-13.). Other diseases, including SLE, can present with similar manifestations, and hence, they are termed as PL retinopathy (Figure 2). Its pathophysiology is believed to be due to the obstruction of the retinal microvasculature, lea ding to severe ischemia(4343 Miguel AI, Henriques F, Azevedo LF, Loureiro AJ, Maberley DA. Systematic review of Purtscher's and Purtscher-like retinopathies. Eye (Lond). 2013;27(1):1-13.

44 Wu C, Dai R, Dong F, Wang Q. Purtscher-like retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Am J Oph-thalmol. 2014;158(6):1335-41
-4545 Sellami D, Ben Zina Z, Jelliti B, Abid D, Feki J, Chaabouni M. [Purtscher-like retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Two cases]. J Fr Ophthalmol. 2002;25(1):52-5). Fundoscopy shows areas of infarction of the inner layer of the retina and “fleckens,” well-defined whitish, polygonal areas that differ from cotton spots, because the latter are more superficial with a feathery appearance and blurred edges(4141 Alahmadi RM, Hashim RT, Almogairin SM, Abu AM. Purtscher-like retinopathy as a first presentation of systematic lupus erythematosus. Ann Saudi Med. 2016;36(1):85-8.

42 Kunavisarut P, Pathanapitoon K, Rothova A. Purtscher-like retinopathy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. Ocul Immunol Infamm. 2016;24(1):60-8

43 Miguel AI, Henriques F, Azevedo LF, Loureiro AJ, Maberley DA. Systematic review of Purtscher's and Purtscher-like retinopathies. Eye (Lond). 2013;27(1):1-13.

44 Wu C, Dai R, Dong F, Wang Q. Purtscher-like retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Am J Oph-thalmol. 2014;158(6):1335-41

45 Sellami D, Ben Zina Z, Jelliti B, Abid D, Feki J, Chaabouni M. [Purtscher-like retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Two cases]. J Fr Ophthalmol. 2002;25(1):52-5

46 Agrawal A, Mckibbin M. Purtscher's retinopathies: a review. Surv Ophthalmol. 2006;51:129-36. French.

47 Arevalo JF, Lowder CY, Muci-Mendoza R. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Current opinion in ophthalmology. 13.6 (2002): 404-10.
-4848 Cruz FM, Chan I, Tee C, Gulay C, Dans L, Otadoy-Augustin J, Recto M. Retinopathy in a patient with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Philipp J Ophthalmol. 2009;34(2):66-9). Hemorrhage and papilla edema may occur. PL retinopathy is generally associated with poor visual prognosis, even with early treatment, and may be the initial presentation or a sign of reactivation of SLE(4141 Alahmadi RM, Hashim RT, Almogairin SM, Abu AM. Purtscher-like retinopathy as a first presentation of systematic lupus erythematosus. Ann Saudi Med. 2016;36(1):85-8.

42 Kunavisarut P, Pathanapitoon K, Rothova A. Purtscher-like retinopathy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. Ocul Immunol Infamm. 2016;24(1):60-8

43 Miguel AI, Henriques F, Azevedo LF, Loureiro AJ, Maberley DA. Systematic review of Purtscher's and Purtscher-like retinopathies. Eye (Lond). 2013;27(1):1-13.

44 Wu C, Dai R, Dong F, Wang Q. Purtscher-like retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Am J Oph-thalmol. 2014;158(6):1335-41

45 Sellami D, Ben Zina Z, Jelliti B, Abid D, Feki J, Chaabouni M. [Purtscher-like retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Two cases]. J Fr Ophthalmol. 2002;25(1):52-5

46 Agrawal A, Mckibbin M. Purtscher's retinopathies: a review. Surv Ophthalmol. 2006;51:129-36. French.

47 Arevalo JF, Lowder CY, Muci-Mendoza R. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Current opinion in ophthalmology. 13.6 (2002): 404-10.
-4848 Cruz FM, Chan I, Tee C, Gulay C, Dans L, Otadoy-Augustin J, Recto M. Retinopathy in a patient with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Philipp J Ophthalmol. 2009;34(2):66-9).

Figure 2
Purscher-like retinopathy. Red free of the right eye shows the presence of “fleckens,” well-defined whitish, polygonal areas.

Retinal vascular occlusions occur when there are changes in blood flow in the retinal arteries or veins. They present as central venous occlusion of the retina, central retinal artery occlusion (Figure 3), or their branches(2424 Uy HS, Chan PS. Systemic Lupus erythemtosus. In: Foster CS, Vitale A. Diagnosis and treatment of uvei-tis. 2nd ed. Delhi: India: Jaypee Brothers Medical; 2012. Cap. 53, p.814-25.,2727 Sahu DK. An unusual presentation of lupus retinopathy. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2008;56(1):72-73.

28 Fouad EA, Hanane M, Mounir B, Rachid Z, Karim R, Abdelber O. Severe ischemic retinopathy in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus without antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report. Saudi J Ophthal-mol. 2015;29(2):169-71.

29 Hong-Kee N, Mei-Fong C, Azhany Y, Zunaina E. Antiphospholipid syndrome in lupus retinopathy. Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;(8):2359-63.

30 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.

31 Davies JB, Rao PK. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2008;19(6):512-8.

32 Preble JM, Silpa-Archa S, Foster CS. Ocular involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2015;26(6):540-5.

33 Vine AJm Barr CC. Proliferative lupus retinopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1984;102(6):852-4.
-3434 Lee WJ, Cho HY, Lee YJ, Lee BR, Shin JP. Intravitreal bevacizumab for severe vasoocclusive retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2013;33(1):247-51.). Simultaneous venous and arterial occlusions in one or both eyes can occur. Arterial occlusive disease has been found to be more common than retinal vein occlusion(2424 Uy HS, Chan PS. Systemic Lupus erythemtosus. In: Foster CS, Vitale A. Diagnosis and treatment of uvei-tis. 2nd ed. Delhi: India: Jaypee Brothers Medical; 2012. Cap. 53, p.814-25.).

Figure 3
Lupus retinopathy. Occlusion of central retinal artery in the left eye leading to whitening of the retina with persistent cilioretinal artery, which maintains the normal aspect of the retina.

An association has been observed between antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and LR, implying that it is important to perform an ophthalmic examination in patients with SLE and aPL, as it is essential to examine the presence of aPL in patients with LR(4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.

50 Au U, O'Day J. Review of severe vaso-occlusive retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus and the an-tiphospholipid syndrome; associations, visual outcomes, complications and treatment. Clin Exp Oph-thalmol. 2004;32(1):87-100.

51 Hong-Kee N, Mei-Fong C, Azhany Y, Zunaina E. Antiphospholipid syndrome in lupus retinopathy. Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;8:2359-63.
-5252 Silpa-archa, S, Lee, JL, Foster, CS. Ocular manifestations in systemic lupus erythematosus. Br J Ophthalmol. 2015;100(1):135-41.). LR can resemble retinitis pigmentosa because a previous vascular occlusive disease results in retinal mottling and large clumps of pigment(5353 de Andrade FA, Balbi GG, de Azevedo LG, Sá GP, Moraes Junior HV, Klumb EM, et al. Neuro-ophthalmologic manifestations in systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(5):522-8.).

Retinal vasculitis is uncommon(2424 Uy HS, Chan PS. Systemic Lupus erythemtosus. In: Foster CS, Vitale A. Diagnosis and treatment of uvei-tis. 2nd ed. Delhi: India: Jaypee Brothers Medical; 2012. Cap. 53, p.814-25.,3030 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.,5454 Barile-Fabris L, Hernández-Cabrera MF, Barragan-Garfias JÁ. Vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Rheumatol. 2014; 16(9):440.), has an acute presentation(3030 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.,5454 Barile-Fabris L, Hernández-Cabrera MF, Barragan-Garfias JÁ. Vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Rheumatol. 2014; 16(9):440.), may be localized or diffuse(2424 Uy HS, Chan PS. Systemic Lupus erythemtosus. In: Foster CS, Vitale A. Diagnosis and treatment of uvei-tis. 2nd ed. Delhi: India: Jaypee Brothers Medical; 2012. Cap. 53, p.814-25.,3030 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.,5454 Barile-Fabris L, Hernández-Cabrera MF, Barragan-Garfias JÁ. Vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Rheumatol. 2014; 16(9):440.), and is associated with poor visual outcome (Figure 4). It is characterized by diffuse arteriolar occlusion with extensive capillary nonperfusion, leading to retinal neovascularization.

Figure 4
Lupus retinopathy presented as retinal vasculitis in the right eye. Optic disc edema, vascular sheath characterized by the adjacent whitening of vessels, especially in the superior arcade, and retinal hemorrhages are observed.

Hypertensive retinopathy is generally associated with lupus nephritis, which causes a secondary hypertension. There may be arteriolar narrowing, pathologic arteriovenous crossing, cotton wool spots, hemorrhages, swollen papilla, and choroidal infarcts (Elschnig’s spots)(2727 Sahu DK. An unusual presentation of lupus retinopathy. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2008;56(1):72-73.

28 Fouad EA, Hanane M, Mounir B, Rachid Z, Karim R, Abdelber O. Severe ischemic retinopathy in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus without antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report. Saudi J Ophthal-mol. 2015;29(2):169-71.

29 Hong-Kee N, Mei-Fong C, Azhany Y, Zunaina E. Antiphospholipid syndrome in lupus retinopathy. Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;(8):2359-63.

30 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.

31 Davies JB, Rao PK. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2008;19(6):512-8.

32 Preble JM, Silpa-Archa S, Foster CS. Ocular involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2015;26(6):540-5.

33 Vine AJm Barr CC. Proliferative lupus retinopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1984;102(6):852-4.
-3434 Lee WJ, Cho HY, Lee YJ, Lee BR, Shin JP. Intravitreal bevacizumab for severe vasoocclusive retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2013;33(1):247-51.).

There have been few reports of autoimmune retinopathy, and it is believed that autoantibodies that affect photoreceptors can lead to the apoptosis of retinal cells and consequently cause visual dysfunction(3535 Cao X, Bishop RJ, Forooghian F, Cho Y, Fariss RN, Chan CC. Autoimmune retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus: histopathologic features. Open Ophthalmol J. 2009;3:20-5.,3636 Chen JJ, Kumar N, McEvoy KM, Leavitt JA. Papilloedema and autoimmune retinopathy from systemic lu-pus erythematosus. Neuroophthalmology. 2017;18.42(2):117-21.).

The complications of LR are related to retinal ischemia with the formation of neovascularization, bleeding, vitreous opacity, and tractional retinal detachment. Other reports include serous retinal detachment associated with lupus choroidopathy and vascular tortuosity(11 Palejwala NV, Walia HS, Yeh S. Ocular manifestations of systemic lúpus erythematosus: a review of the lit-erature. Autoimmune Dis. 2012;2012:1-9.,22 Kharel Sitaula) R, Shah DN, Singh D. Role of lupus retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect. 2016;6(1):15-8.,2727 Sahu DK. An unusual presentation of lupus retinopathy. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2008;56(1):72-73.

28 Fouad EA, Hanane M, Mounir B, Rachid Z, Karim R, Abdelber O. Severe ischemic retinopathy in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus without antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report. Saudi J Ophthal-mol. 2015;29(2):169-71.

29 Hong-Kee N, Mei-Fong C, Azhany Y, Zunaina E. Antiphospholipid syndrome in lupus retinopathy. Clin Ophthalmol. 2014;(8):2359-63.

30 Butendieck RR, Parikh K, Stewart M, Davidge-Pitts C, Abril A. Systemic lupus erythematosus-associated retinal vasculitis. J Rheumatol. 2012;39(5):1095-6.

31 Davies JB, Rao PK. Ocular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2008;19(6):512-8.

32 Preble JM, Silpa-Archa S, Foster CS. Ocular involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2015;26(6):540-5.

33 Vine AJm Barr CC. Proliferative lupus retinopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1984;102(6):852-4.
-3434 Lee WJ, Cho HY, Lee YJ, Lee BR, Shin JP. Intravitreal bevacizumab for severe vasoocclusive retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2013;33(1):247-51.).

Fluorescein angiography is useful for detecting vascular, macular, or optic nerve disease(2121 Bombardier C, Gladman DD, Urowitz MB, Caron D, Chang CH. Derivation of the SLEDAI. A disease activity index for lupus patients. The Committee on Prognosis Studies in SLE. Arthritis Rheum. 1992;35(6):630-40.,2222 Tolba DA, El-Fayoumi DM, Abdelaziz MS, Nabih MH. Fluorescein angiographic findings in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus. Ocular Immunol Inflamm. 2017;25(6):884-90.) and the changes in eyes that appear clinically normal. These patients have no visual complaints. FA findings suggest an active disease or cerebral involvement; however, till date, there is no scientific evidence related to this theory(2121 Bombardier C, Gladman DD, Urowitz MB, Caron D, Chang CH. Derivation of the SLEDAI. A disease activity index for lupus patients. The Committee on Prognosis Studies in SLE. Arthritis Rheum. 1992;35(6):630-40.,2222 Tolba DA, El-Fayoumi DM, Abdelaziz MS, Nabih MH. Fluorescein angiographic findings in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus. Ocular Immunol Inflamm. 2017;25(6):884-90.).

Optical coherence angiotomography (OCT-A) consists of angiotomographic evaluation of retinal vascularization based on the physical properties of interferometry(2020 Gladman DD, Ibañez D, Urowitz MB. Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index 2000. J Rheu-matol. 2000;29(2):288-91.). Subclinical LR such as vasculitis and ischemia and can play a role in predicting severe systemic presentations of SLE. As it is a new examination in clinical practice, the literature supporting its practical utility in LR is limited(2020 Gladman DD, Ibañez D, Urowitz MB. Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index 2000. J Rheu-matol. 2000;29(2):288-91.,5555 Conigliaro P, Cesareo M, Chimenti MS, Triggianese P, Canofari C, Aloe G, et al. Response to: 'OCTA, a sensitive screening for asymptomatic retinopathy, raises alarm over systemic involvements in patients with SLE' by Mizuno et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020;79(2):e18. Comment in: Ann Rheum Dis. 2019;78(2):287-9.

56 Conigliaro P, Cesareo M, Chimenti MS, Triggianese P, Canofari C, Aloe G, et al. Evaluation of retinal mi-crovascular density in patients affected by systemic lupus erythematosus: an optical coherence tomogra-phy angiography study. Ann Rheum Dis 2019;78(2):287-9.
-5757 Conigliaro P, Triggianese P, Draghessi G, Canofari C, Aloe G, Chimenti MS, et al. Evidence for the detec-tion of subclinical retinal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren Syndrome: a poten-tial association with therapies. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2018;177(1):45-56.).

Prevalence and risk factors of LR

Bergmeister et al. were the first to report LR in 1929. The LR lesions consisted of cotton wool spots and optic disc hyperemia. Before the pre-corticoid era, up to 50% of patients with SLE were reported to have retinal manifestations(2323 Lanham JG, Barrie T, Kohner EM, Hughes GR. SLE retinopathy: evaluation by fluorescein angiography. Ann Rheum Dis. 1982; 41(5):473-8.).

Currently, due to the use of corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, and biological agents, the incidence of LR has dramatically decreased. The literature reports a varied prevalence of LR, ranging from 3% to 29%(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.). This prevalence gap can be justified by several factors such as the definition of LR used in different studies, the study design, the sample of patients, and geographical variations(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.,3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.

38 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.

39 Ushiyama O, Ushiyama K, Koarada S, Tada Y, Suzuki N, Ohta A, et al. Retinal disease in patients with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2000;59(9):705-8.
-4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
). The most severe clinical LR presentations are rare and occur in <1% of patients(5858 Torrente-Nieto A, Gómez-Resa M, Castro-Guardiola A. Purtscher-like retinopathy and systemic lupus ery-thematosus. Retinopatía de Purtscher y lupus eritematoso sistémico. Med Clin (Barc). 2018; 151(12):504-5.).

Since its first description in 1929, reports and case series have been published to gain a better understanding of LR and its role in the clinical spectrum of SLE. However, it was the emblematic study conducted by Sttaford-Brady et al. (1988) in Canada, which followed up a cohort of 550 patients with SLE over a period of 16 years, that set the basis for understanding LR. Sttaford-Brady et al. diagnosed 41 patients with LR and found microangiopathy as the primary clinical presentation, generally without visual acuity impairment. However, the cases of LR and low visual acuity, especially associated with venous or arterial vascular occlusions, tended to progress to irreversible visual loss. Sttaford-Brady et al. confirmed the presence of an association between LR and several factors, including active disease, decreased life expectancy, and imminent mortality in 10% of patients. That study demonstrated that retinal hemorrhage is the primary fundoscopic finding associated with increa sed mortality(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.).

Montehermoso et al. (1999) conducted a cross-sectional study in Spain evaluating 82 patients with SLE and identified 13 (15%) patients with LR(4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.). They observed that vascular occlusions were more common than microangiopathy. Despite the severity of clinical presentation, their patients maintained good visual acuity, unlike those of previous studies(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.). A possible explanation was that those manifestations were associated with the presence of antiphospholipid syndrome, resulting in intravascular thrombosis rather than immune complex deposition(4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.).

In their study, no association was detected between LR and disease activity, but an association was found between LR and aPL. However, the authors did not specify the index that was used to measure SLE disease activity(4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.).

Ushiyama et al. (2000) conducted a cross-sectional study in Japan on 69 patients with SLE and found LR in approximately 10% of the patients. Microangiopathy was the primary manifestation of LR, and the patients had good visual acuity, corroborating previous studies(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.). There was also an association between LR and disease activity according to the SLEDAI(3939 Ushiyama O, Ushiyama K, Koarada S, Tada Y, Suzuki N, Ohta A, et al. Retinal disease in patients with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2000;59(9):705-8.).

Gao et al. (2017) conducted a 10-year case-control study in China (2006-2016) and evaluated 5298 patients with SLE. They detected LR in 35 (0.66%) patients. This small number of patients with LR can be explained by the fact that no fundus examinations were performed in all patients. Instead, only patients with SLE with visual complaints underwent fundoscopy. Therefore, patients with asymptomatic LR were possibly undiagnosed, which could have been a bias. We presume that patients with SLE with visual complaints generally present with severe LR and poor visual prognosis. In their study, 80% of patients with LR had decreased visual acuity, 11.7% had visual field loss, and 5% had diplopia(3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.).

Seth et al. (2018) conducted a cross-sectional study in India on 437 patients with SLE and identified 45 (10.7%) patients with LR. Lupus microangiopathy was the most common manifestation, and the patients had a high activity index, measured by SLEDAI, compared with the group without LR(3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.).

Recently, Azevedo et al. (2019) performed a cross-sec tional study in Brazil on 102 patients with SLE(4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
). They eidentified 5 (4.9%) patients with LR, and till date, no studies on LR from Latin America have been found in major databases. As the clinical features of SLE are known to vary in different parts of the world, it is important to include data from Latin America(4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
,5959 Vilar MJ, Sato EI. Estimating the incidence of systemic lupus erythematosus in a tropical region (Natal, Brazil). Lupus. 2002; 11(8):528-32.

60 Pons-Estel GJ, Catoggio LJ, Cardiel MH, Bonfa E, Caeiro F, Sato E, Massardo L, Molina-Restrepo JF, To-ledano MG, Barile-Fabris LA, Amigo MC, Acevedo-Vásquez EM, Abadi I, Wojdyla D, Alarcón-Riquelme ME, Alarcón GS, Pons-Estel BA; GLADEL. Lupus in Latin-American patients: lessons from the GLADEL cohort. Lupus. 2015;24(6):536-45.
-6161 Pons-Estel GJ, Alarcon GS, Scofield L, Reinlib L, Cooper GS. Understanding the epidemi-ology and progression of systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2010;39(4):257-68.) (Table 1).

Table 1
Prevalence and incidence of lupus retinopathy in several studies

According to the abovementioned study, the prevalence of LR in Brazil is similar to that in other countries(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.,3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.

38 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.

39 Ushiyama O, Ushiyama K, Koarada S, Tada Y, Suzuki N, Ohta A, et al. Retinal disease in patients with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2000;59(9):705-8.
-4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
). In that study, 77 outpatients and 25 hospitalized patients were examined, and of the five patients with LR, one was an outpatient. Despite a relatively high proportion of LR among hospitalized patients, only one patient was found to be symptomatic. Therefore, among outpatients, there was a 1.29% prevalence of LR, and among hospitalized patients, it was 16%. In the major LR studies, there is no information regarding the proportion of hospitalized patients versus outpatients. Hence, we believe that the ratio between outpatients and hospitalized patients could interfere with the overall prevalence of LR(4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
).

Therefore, we believe that hospitalized patients may have undiagnosed LR as they have mild forms of LR and are not routinely examined by an ophthalmologist during hospitalization. The higher prevalence of LR among hospitalized patients may be related to poor medication compliance, resulting in disease activity and hospitalization. Further studies should specify the sample’s characteristics (especially hospitalized patients versus outpatients) to obtain more accurate data to compare the prevalence and clinical presentations of LR(4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
).

Several studies have attempted to establish the relationship between clinical features or laboratory tests and LR, with conflicting results. Such findings may be justified by different methodologies, clinical-epidemiological characteristics of patients with SLE, and severity of the disease(4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
). No association was found between sex(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.,3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.,4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
,4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.), age(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.,3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.,4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
,4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.), and disease duration(3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.,4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
,4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.). Among the clinical manifestations, studies have described the association between LR and lupus nephritis(3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.,3939 Ushiyama O, Ushiyama K, Koarada S, Tada Y, Suzuki N, Ohta A, et al. Retinal disease in patients with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2000;59(9):705-8.) and neuropsychiatric involvement (“Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus,” NPSLE)(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.,3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.,3939 Ushiyama O, Ushiyama K, Koarada S, Tada Y, Suzuki N, Ohta A, et al. Retinal disease in patients with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2000;59(9):705-8.). It is believed that NPSLE could be related to LR due to the similar pathophysiological mechanism, which involves autoantibodies and immune complex deposition. Therefore, fundoscopy may be a useful, noninvasive tool for the indirect assessment of CNS microvascular damage in patients with SLE(1313 Stafford-Brady FJ, Urowitz MB, Gladman DD, Easterbrook M. Lupus retinopathy. Patterns, associations, and prognosis. Arthritis Rheum.1988;31(9):1105-10. Comment in: Arthritis Rheum. 1989; 32(8):1053-4.). Seth et al. described an association between LR, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and serositis. In contrast, Gao et al. found no association between LR and malar rash, photosensitivity, and arthritis(3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.).

In addition, no association was reported between erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)(3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.,4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
), C-reactive protein (CRP)(3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.,4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
), platelet count(3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.,4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
), and C3 and C4(3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.)levels. Gao et al.(3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.) described an association between leukopenia and LR, whereas other studies did not corroborate this finding(3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.,3939 Ushiyama O, Ushiyama K, Koarada S, Tada Y, Suzuki N, Ohta A, et al. Retinal disease in patients with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2000;59(9):705-8.).

Among autoantibodies, anti-DNA(3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.,3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.,4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
,4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.), anti-LA(3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.), and anti-RNP were not associated with LR(3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.,3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.). Antiphospholipid antibodies may play a role because it is possible that the formation of microthrombi in the retinal microvasculature causes retinal vascular occlusions(3939 Ushiyama O, Ushiyama K, Koarada S, Tada Y, Suzuki N, Ohta A, et al. Retinal disease in patients with sys-temic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2000;59(9):705-8.,4949 Montehermoso A, Cervera R, Font J, Ramos-Casals M, García-Carrasco M, Formiga F, et al. Association of antiphospholipid antibodies with retinalvascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Semin Ar-thritis Rheum. 1999;28(5):326-32.). Anti-SM is a specific autoantibody of SLE, and Seth et al. (3737 Seth G, Chengappa KG, Misra DP, Babu R, Belani P, Shanoj KC, et al. Lupus retinopathy: a marker of ac-tive sytemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int. 2018;38(8): 1495-1501.) described an association with LR; however, this finding was not described by Gao et al. (3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.)

It is important to mention that Gao et al. described an inverse relationship between anti-Ro and LR, and hence this autoantibody would be a protective factor for LR, which was not mentioned in other studies. A possible explanation for the controversial results of Gao et al. is the study methodology, because LR was retrospectively evaluated and only in symptomatic patients. Table 2 summarizes the major association between clinical findings or laboratory tests and LR(3838 Gao N, Li MT, Li YH, Zhang SH, Dai RP, Zhang LD, et al. Retinal vasculopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus. 2017;26(11):1182-9.).

Table 2
Major association between clinical and laboratory lupus retinopathy

In conclusion, in Brazil, there are multiple ethnicities and intense miscegenation, unlike other countries. Although Azevedo et al. did not find an association between LR and ethnicity(4040 Azevedo LG. Lupus retinopathy: new data from Latin America. EC Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2019[cited 2019 Dec 21];10.12:01-04. Available from: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-10-00575.pdf
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecop/pdf/ECOP-...
), it is not known whether miscegenation influenced this result Therefore, further research is required to answer these questions.

Currently, there are no protocols recommending ophthalmic examination in patients with SLE. Conside ring the relationship between LR and SLE mortality, fundoscopy plays a vital role in the follow-up of these patients. We believe that fundoscopy should be conducted at the time of diagnosis, in patients with complaints of acute visual impairment, in those with a high SLEDAI score, without treatment, hospitalized patients, or those with aPL. For asymptomatic patients, we suggest an annual ophthalmological assessment to evaluate the side effects of medications such as cataract and glaucoma related to corticosteroids and hydroxychloroquine maculopathy. Fluorescein angiography and, more recently, OCT-A are complementary methods to evaluate LR, especially in patients with SLE without fundus changes but with risk factors for LR, to detect subclinical forms of LR.

  • Funding: This study received no specific financial support.

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    14 July 2021
  • Date of issue
    Jul-Aug 2021

History

  • Received
    16 Dec 2019
  • Accepted
    02 July 2020
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