Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus is a complex and heterogeneous autoimmune disease with a relatively low incidence. Clinical research in this disease at individual centers is complicated by the difficulty of accruing enough patient numbers. In this context, the development of cohorts and multi-institutional registries during the last decades has allowed an increase in knowledge regarding the clinical course and management of this disease. This article aims to describe the main study designs linked to lupus registries and to give an overview of the main international registries and cohorts, as well as their principal achievements in the context of this complex entity.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Graciela S Alarcón for her expert assistance in the preparation and review of this manuscript.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.