First case presentation of refractory pediatric bullous lupus erythematosus (BSLE) treatment with belimumab

H.-Q. Zeng, X.-P. Lu, Z.-B. Yan, Z.-Z. Ye

Shenzhen Futian Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Futian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. yezhizhong0506@163.com

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• Pediatrics
• Rheumatology

INTRODUCTION: Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus (BSLE) is a rare form of subcutaneous blistering lupus erythematosus (SLE). There is currently no effective treatment for BSLE. However, here, we present the first report of the successful treatment of refractory BSLE with belimumab in a 16-year-old girl.

CASE PRESENTATION: A 16-year-old girl with BSLE had undergone different treatment options, with no significant improvement. Since B-lymphocyte stimulator plays an important role in the pathophysiology of SLE, belimumab was administered and showed remarkable effects for the first time in this patient with both SLE and BSLE. The patient’s skin lesions improved steadily over the course of three weeks and completely disappeared in 30 days. In addition, no sign of recurrence of BSLE was observed over the 9-month follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report of the successful short-term therapy of refractory BSLE/SLE overlap syndrome with belimumab in a pediatric patient. Although the use of belimumab resulted in excellent.

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