Quintana R, Pons-Estel GJ, Pons-Estel K, et al. - In this study, the clinical features, damage accrual, and survival of patients with familial and sporadic systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were compared. Researchers conducted a multi-ethnic, multinational Latin American SLE cohort. They characterized familial lupus as patients with a first-degree SLE relative; these relatives were interviewed in person or by telephone. They further compared clinical variables, disease activity, damage, and mortality. They calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. They estimated Hazard ratios applying Cox proportional hazard adjusted for potential confounders for time to damage and mortality. The data showed that familial SLE is not characterized by a more severe form of the disease than sporadic lupus. It was found that familial SLE has a higher frequency of discoid lupus and neurologic manifestations and a lower frequency of pericarditis.