Long-Term Outcome in Lupus Nephritis
Authors: Gabor G. Illei, James E. Balow, Dimitrios T. Boumpas
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2002)

Letters17 September 2002Long-Term Outcome in Lupus NephritisGabor G. Illei, MD, James E. Balow, MD, and Dimitrios T. Boumpas, MDGabor G. Illei, MDNational Institutes of Health; Bethesda, MD 20892University of Crete Medical School; Heraklion 711 10, GreeceSearch for more papers by this author, James E. Balow, MDNational Institutes of Health; Bethesda, MD 20892University of Crete Medical School; Heraklion 711 10, GreeceSearch for more papers by this author, and Dimitrios T. Boumpas, MDNational Institutes of Health; Bethesda, MD 20892University of Crete Medical School; Heraklion 711 10, GreeceSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-137-6-200209170-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We agree with Spiera and colleagues that the larger number of deaths in the cyclophosphamide-containing groups in our study is intriguing and that a survival analysis is the optimal statistical method to determine whether there is a true difference in mortality. However, we believe that combining the mortality data from both cyclophosphamide-containing groups and comparing them with the methylprednisolone group is flawed because this method assumes that any increased mortality in the combination group is attributable to cyclophosphamide. Comparing the methylprednisolone-only group with the cyclophosphamide-only group in a Breslow-Gehan-Wilcoxon survival analysis showed no significant difference in risk for ...References1. Austin HA, Klippel JH, Balow JE, le Riche NG, Steinberg AD, Plotz PH, et al . Therapy of lupus nephritis. Controlled trial of prednisone and cytotoxic drugs. N Engl J Med. 1986;314:614-9. [PMID: 3511372] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Boumpas DT, Austin HA, Vaughn EM, Klippel JH, Steinberg AD, Yarboro CH, et al . Controlled trial of pulse methylprednisolone versus two regimens of pulse cyclophosphamide in severe lupus nephritis. Lancet. 1992;340:741-5. [PMID: 1356175] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, MD 20892University of Crete Medical School; Heraklion 711 10, Greece PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoCombination Therapy with Pulse Cyclophosphamide plus Pulse Methylprednisolone Improves Long-Term Renal Outcome without Adding Toxicity in Patients with Lupus Nephritis Gabor G. Illei , Howard A. Austin III , Marianna Crane , Lee Collins , Mark F. Gourley , Cheryl H. Yarboro , Ellen M. Vaughan , Takashi Kuroiwa , Carol L. Danning , Alfred D. Steinberg , John H. Klippel , James E. Balow , and Dimitrios T. Boumpas Long-Term Outcome in Lupus Nephritis Robert F. Spiera , Peter Homel , and Harry Spiera Metrics 17 September 2002Volume 137, Issue 6Page: 545-546KeywordsCyclophosphamideHeart rateKidneysLupus nephritisMortalityPneumocystis carinii pneumoniaRenal analysisRenal failureStatistical methodsSurvival analysis ePublished: 17 September 2002 Issue Published: 17 September 2002 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2002 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...