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Rheumatology 2001; 40: 826-827
© 2001 British Society for Rheumatology
Heberden Historical Series |
The LE cell
Rheumatology Section, Division of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.
The name lupus, derived from the Latin for wolf, was used first as a medical term by Rogerius (c. 1230) and later by Paracelsus (14931541) and Sennert (1611). A more recognizable description of the disease was reported by Cazenave in 1838, who went on to name the disease lupus érythèmateux with his colleague Clausit in 1852. In a series of publications, Hebra and his son-in-law Kaposi differentiated the systemic, or disseminated, and discoid forms. Between 1895 and 1903, Osler described many of the recognizable features of the disease as we now know it.
Autoantibodies are a characteristic feature of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and their presence has suggested an autoimmune
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