Evaluation of skin lesions of lupus with Turkish revised cutaneous lupus erythematosus disease area and severity index

Background and Design: The Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus Disease Area and Severity Index (CLASI) is used to evaluate the cutaneous manifestations in patients with lupus erythematosus (LE). In recent years, the Revised Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus Disease Area and Severity Index (RCLASI) which provides more objective assessment has been developed, but the number of studies utilizing RCLASI are limited. The aim of this study was to increase the clinical use of the RCLASI by translating this scale into Turkish and to evaluate the effects of factors, which affect CLASI, on RCLASI. Materials and Methods: The scale was translated into Turkish by using proper international translation steps. Ninety-three LE patients who were admitted to Trakya University Faculty of Medicine were included in this study. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded. Cutaneous manifestations were calculated using RCLASI. Two scores were obtained: activity and damage scores. The relationship of the scores with patient age, gender, duration of illness, facial involvement, subtypes of LE, and antinuclear antibody, Anti-Ro/SS-A antibody and Anti-La/SS-B antibody positivities were evaluated. Results: The mean activity and damage scores were 2.59 +/- 2.88 and 0.81 +/- 1.88, respectively. When activity and damage scores were compared between the age groups, there was no statistically significant difference. The damage scores were significantly higher in male patients than in female patients. The activity scores were statistically significantly higher in patients with disease duration of more than three years and facial involvement. There was no statistically significant difference between the subtypes of LE and the activity and damage scores. RCLASI damage scores were statistically significantly higher in Anti-La/SS-B antibody positive patients. Conclusion: RCLASI is an appropriate scoring system to evaluate the cutaneous manifestations in patients with LE. The scores obtained from this scale may vary depending on gender, disease duration and presence of facial involvement.