Rheumatology 2001; 40: 349-350
© 2001 British Society for Rheumatology
Letters to the Editor |
Pyrexia and normal C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: always consider the possibility of infection in febrile patients with systemic lupus erythematosus regardless of CRP levels
Leicester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust, Leicester, UK
| The first 10% of the full text of this article appears below. |
SIR, Patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often have normal C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. However, bacterial infections can elicit CRP production in these patients [1, 2]. It has therefore been proposed that measuring the CRP levels in pyrexial patients with SLE can help to differentiate between active disease and infection [1, 2]. We describe two patients with SLE with systemic bacterial infection who presented with normal CRP levels.
The first patient was