Severe Acute Liver Injury: First Manifestation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common multisystem disease characterised by a wide variety of presentation patterns and complex manifestations. As a lymphoid organ, the liver plays an important role in the immune response and is a target of autoimmune responses (1). SLE can affect the liver in approximately 25 – 60% of patients during their disease course (2,3). Liver dysfunction and SLE can present with complicated differential diagnoses. Liver dysfunction in SLE is usually mild and rarely leads to advanced liver diseases such as cirrhosis and liver failure (4,5). Liver dysfunction in SLE is usually caused by non-SLE-related causes such as drug toxicity, fatty liver, alcoholism, and associated autoimmune hepatitis. However, primary liver involvement in SLE is also well-recognised. Patients with SLE who present with acute liver failure are rare. We report a rare case of SLE-associated acute severe liver injury along with a literature review.