Objective To study the clinical characteristics of the onset of systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) in postmenopausal patients. Methods The clinical features and prognosis of 20 SLE patients whose onset was at least one year after menopause,and 70 patients with the onset during normal menstruation and 43 male patients between 1992 and 2003 were comparatively analyzed. Results The onset of SLE was seen after menopause in 20 out of 699 (2.9%) female patients. The average age at the onset of the disease was 55 years with a peak from 50 to 59. The common clinical manifestations were arthritis,lassitude,fever,alopecia,malar rash,cardiac impairment and weight loss,while laboratory abnormalities were high ESR,decreased C3,ANA≥1∶80,hypergammaglobulinemia and positive anti-RNP antibody. As compared with normal menstruation onset group,the postmenopausal onset group was more likely to have weight loss( P