ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy of low-dose intravenous cyclophosphmide (IV CTX) in treatmerit of old patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE).MethodsTwenty-three old patients with newly diagnosed, untreated SLE were included.Patients received 3 times fortnightly IV CTX pulses at a fixed dose of 400mg followed by 3 monthly pulses.All patients were orally administered 0.8mg/kg of prednisone.The changes of the indexes were observed before and after 12 weeks treatment including the scores of SLE disease activity index(SLEDAI) and the levels of C3, C4 ,24-hour urinary protein and anti-dsDNA antibody.ResultsAmong 23 patients, 19 were followed up to 24 weeks, SLEDAI 4 weeks after treatment were all significantly lower than those before the treatment (P ＜0.01).At week 8, SLEDAI continued to decrease(P ＜0.05).At week 4,the level of urine protein, the levels of complements C3 and C4 and ds-DNA decreased significantly compared with that before the treatment (P ＜0.05).ConclusionIntensive low-dose CTX plus prednisone was effective in newly diagnosed, untreated old patients with SLE, and could reduce adverse effect.

Objective To analyze the clinical features of renal involvement associated with Behcet's disease (BD) through 1 case and to make a review of the literature in order to early diagnose and cure in time,thus decrease misdiagnosis and mistreatment.Methods This is a retrospective study.The case was diagnosed with BD and the renal damage was confirmed by renal biopsy.The clinical features and histology features were analyzed.Results The presentation of renal disease was edema,proteinuria and microscopic hematuria.The clinical spectrum of renal BD showed a wide variation.Amyloidosis (AA type),GN (nephritis),and microscopic vascular disease were the main causes of renal BD.Patients with vascular involvement had a high risk of amyloidosis and amyloidosis was the most common cause of renal failure in BD.Conclusion Kidney is one of the organs that can alter the prognosis of the BD,so the screening for renal damage must be done for each patient with this disease.Routine urine analysis and measurement of serum creatinine level are needed for early diagnosis of renal BD.Immunosuppressive drugs can be useful in selected cases.