This study aimed to examine the impact of timing of childhood‐onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) diagnosis relative to menarchal status on final height, accounting for and disease-associated factors.
A cohort study of female cSLE patients <18 years of age at diagnosis, followed at a tertiary care pediatric center from July 1982 to March 2016, restricted to patients with documented age of menarche and final height. We compared the final height between patients diagnosed with pre-and post‐menarche. The association of cSLE diagnosis timing with final height, adjusted for ethnicity, were tested in linear regression models. Of 401 female cSLE patients in the study, 115 patients (29%) were diagnosed pre‐menarche and 286 (71%) post‐menarche. Patients diagnosed pre‐menarche were older at menarche than patients diagnosed post‐menarche . The mean final height for females diagnosed post‐menarche (161.4 cm) was more significant than those diagnosed pre‐menarche (158.8 cm, P=0.001). In regression analysis, those diagnosed post‐menarche were significantly taller than those diagnosed pre‐menarche, adjusted for ethnicity, and disease severity (Beta=2.6cm, P=0.0006).
Conclusively, in this large cohort study of females with cSLE, patients diagnosed post‐menarche achieved a taller final height than those diagnosed pre‐menarche even after accounting for ethnicity and disease severity.
Ref: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acr.24461
