Cited by 2,011Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ResearchSystemic Sclerosis and Related DiseasesVasculitis and related conditions

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 162 of the 162 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 1 of the 43 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

2019 update of the EULAR recommendations for the management of systemic lupus erythematosus

Open access

Abstract

Our objective was to update the EULAR recommendations for the management of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), based on emerging new evidence. We performed a systematic literature review (01/2007–12/2017), followed by modified Delphi method, to form questions, elicit expert opinions and reach consensus. Treatment in SLE aims at remission or low disease activity and prevention of flares. Hydroxychloroquine is recommended in all patients with lupus, at a dose not exceeding 5 mg/kg real body weight. During chronic maintenance treatment, glucocorticoids (GC) should be minimised to less than 7.5 mg/day (prednisone equivalent) and, when possible, withdrawn. Appropriate initiation of immunomodulatory agents (methotrexate, azathioprine, mycophenolate) can expedite the tapering/discontinuation of GC. In persistently active or flaring extrarenal disease, add-on belimumab should be considered; rituximab (RTX) may be considered in organ-threatening, refractory disease. Updated specific recommendations are also provided for cutaneous, neuropsychiatric, haematological and renal disease. Patients with SLE should be assessed for their antiphospholipid antibody status, infectious and cardiovascular diseases risk profile and preventative strategies be tailored accordingly. The updated recommendations provide physicians and patients with updated consensus guidance on the management of SLE, combining evidence-base and expert-opinion.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This 2019 EULAR update provides consensus recommendations for managing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), based on a systematic literature review (2007–2017) and a Delphi process, yielding 33 final statements across goals of treatment, treatment, specific manifestations, and comorbidities. It emphasizes remission or low disease activity, hydroxychloroquine for all patients at ≤5 mg/kg real body weight, glucocorticoid minimization to <7.5 mg/day prednisone equivalent when possible, and add-on belimumab or rituximab in defined refractory settings.

Key findings

  • The Task Force reached consensus on 33 final statements; treatment should aim at remission or low disease activity and prevention of flares. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is recommended for all patients with SLE unless contraindicated, at a dose not exceeding 5 mg/kg real body weight, with ophthalmological screening at baseline, after 5 years, and yearly thereafter in the absence of retinal toxicity risk factors.
  • For chronic maintenance, glucocorticoids should be minimized to less than 7.5 mg/day prednisone equivalent and withdrawn when possible; prompt initiation of immunomodulatory agents (methotrexate, azathioprine, mycophenolate) can expedite tapering/discontinuation. Add-on belimumab should be considered in extrarenal disease with inadequate response to standard care, and rituximab may be considered in organ-threatening, refractory disease.
  • In lupus nephritis, mycophenolate or low-dose intravenous cyclophosphamide are recommended for induction, and mycophenolate or azathioprine for maintenance; high-dose intravenous cyclophosphamide can also be used in patients at high risk for renal failure. Calcineurin inhibitors may be considered as second-line agents mainly in membranous lupus nephritis, podocytopathy, or refractory nephrotic syndrome.
  • All patients with SLE should be screened at diagnosis for antiphospholipid antibodies; infection and cardiovascular disease risk should be assessed and preventative strategies tailored. Low-dose aspirin may be considered for primary cardiovascular prevention (HR 0.24 in one retrospective study), but this must be balanced against bleeding hazard; routine statins are not recommended for all patients.

Methods

  • After EULAR Executive Committee approval, a Task Force performed an update using EULAR standardised operating procedures and AGREE II. A systematic literature review screened PubMed for English-language publications from 01/2007 to 12/2017, with two exceptions: skin disease had an unrestricted date search, and renal disease was limited to 01/2012–12/2017.
  • Fourteen research questions were selected via Delphi methodology; pertinent articles from manual reference-list searches were also included. Evidence was categorised by study design and validity, statements were graded, and after discussion rounds the committee reached consensus on 33 final statements, with each Task Force member rating agreement.

Limitations

  • The paper states several evidence gaps: data on optimal duration and timing of therapy discontinuation in renal and extrarenal disease are scarce; calcineurin inhibitor studies in lupus nephritis were performed almost exclusively in Asian populations and had short follow-up; no studies have been performed exclusively in patients with SLE-antiphospholipid syndrome; and no formal studies address low-molecular-weight heparin during high-risk periods. It also notes that HCQ efficacy was established at 6.5 mg/kg/day, so whether a lower dose has comparable clinical effects remains to be confirmed, and data are insufficient to recommend routine drug-level monitoring.
  • Evident from the text: the recommendations combine evidence and expert opinion, with many statements supported by low evidence grades (e.g., 4/C, 2b/C) and consensus agreement rather than high-quality randomized evidence. The systematic review ended in 12/2017, so later evidence is not incorporated.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-215089

Cites

162 of 162 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

44 Not checked yet · 6 Own interpretation · 5 Own method · 1 Partly supported · accuracy not yet measured

Verify all 42 references — free account

Show all 28 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 21
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 9
28 of 28
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The evidence from studies in patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus applies to skin disease in SLE.

    “A large body of evidence originates from studies in patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The bleeding hazard from aspirin observed in diabetics and elderly applies to patients with SLE.

    “However, this has to be viewed in light of recent large studies in diabetics and elderly showing that the benefits of aspirin for primary CVD prevention are counterbalanced by the larger bleeding hazard.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The results of the rivaroxaban versus warfarin trial in APS with triple antiphospholipid positivity apply to patients with SLE-APS.

    “A recent randomised, open-label trial comparing rivaroxaban to warfarin in APS with triple aPL positivity (~21% of patients had SLE-APS) was prematurely terminated due to an excess of thromboembolic events in the rivaroxaban arm.”
3 of 3

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Show all 162 references

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 2,011

Metadata

Authors
Fanouriakis, A., Kostopoulou, M., Alunno, A., Aringer, M., Bajema, I., Boletis, J. N., Cervera, R., Doria, A., Gordon, C., Govoni, M., Houssiau, F., Jayne, D., Kouloumas, M., Kuhn, A., Larsen, J. L., Lerstrøm, K., Moroni, G., Mosca, M., Schneider, M., Smolen, J. S., Svenungsson, E., Tesar, V., Tincani, A., Troldborg, A., van Vollenhoven, R., Wenzel, J., Bertsias, G., & Boumpas, D. T.
Affiliations
  • University General Hospital Attikon (GR)
  • General Hospital of Athens G. Genimatas (GR)
  • University of Perugia (IT)
  • University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus (DE)
  • Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
  • National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
  • Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (ES)
  • University of Padua (IT)
  • University of Birmingham (GB)
  • University of Ferrara (IT)
  • Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc (BE)
  • Addenbrooke's Hospital (GB)
  • University Hospital Münster (DE)
  • Rigshospitalet (DK)
  • Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico (IT)
  • University of Pisa (IT)
  • Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
  • Medical University of Vienna (AT)
  • Karolinska University Hospital (SE)
  • Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
  • University Hospital of Heraklion (GR)
Corresponding author
Fanouriakis, Antonis
Venue
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-06
Volume
78
Issue
6
Pages
736-745
ISSN
0003-4967 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2927871970
Cited by
2,011
References
162
Citations by year
2026: 132 · 2025: 189 · 2024: 322 · 2023: 349 · 2022: 347 · 2021: 317 · 2020: 271 · 2019: 77
FWCI
191.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion)
  • Institutional Research Information System University of Ferrara (University of Ferrara) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
  • CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (University of Pisa) (submittedVersion)
  • DIAL (Catholic University of Leuven) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Institutional Research Information System (Università degli Studi di Brescia) (submittedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion)
  • Apollo
Funders
European League Against Rheumatism
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Systemic Sclerosis and Related Diseases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Vasculitis and related conditions
Keywords
systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus management, hydroxychloroquine, glucocorticoid tapering, immunomodulators, belimumab, rituximab, disease flares, cutaneous lupus erythematosus, neuropsychiatric lupus, renal lupus, antiphospholipid antibodies, cardiovascular risk, infectious disease risk, EULAR recommendations
MeSH terms
Biological Products, Glucocorticoids, Humans, Hydroxychloroquine, Immunosuppressive Agents, Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic, Severity of Illness Index, Comorbidity, Evidence-Based Medicine, Disease Management

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-09, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-09 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review