SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS EVOLVING INTO SYSTEMIC VASCULITIS: A REPORT OF FIVE CASES

Five patients with systemic lupus erythematosus are described who developed the disease in their second or third decade. The pattern of their disease then changed markedly and they developed the clinical features of a systemic vasculitis. The possible explanations for this transition of one connective tissue disease to another is discussed.