Abstract

Objective: Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is the most common systemic vasculitis seen in childhood. Although the complement system is believed to play a role in its pathogenesis, serum levels of complement 3 (C3) and complement 4 (C4) are within the normal ranges in most HSP patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and demographic features and laboratory findings of HSP patients with low C3 and C4 levels.

Material and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the data of 759 HSP patients followed-up at our pediatric rheumatology department between January 2010 and December 2017. The 17 HSP patients who had hypocomplementemia were included in the study. Demographical, clinical and laboratory parameters were evaluated.

Results: The mean age at onset was 8.93 (8-14) years. The follow-up period lasted for 24.4 (8-84) months. Eleven were male and 6 were female. All patients had skin involvement. Seven patients had gastrointestinal system involvement, 12 had joint involvement, 1 had testicular involvement, and 5 had renal involvement. Complement levels returned to normal ranges in all HSP patients except three.

Conclusion: Hypocomplementemia is not an unusual condition in HSP patients. It appears to be a transient phenomenon that is not related to the prognosis and the severity of the disease in most patients. However, long-term follow-up is needed as the subsequent development of other autoimmune diseases (SLE etc.) may be a possibility in this group of patients.

Keywords: Child, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, Complement

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Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Başaran Ö. Evaluation of Henoch Schönlein Purpura with Hypocomplementemia in Children. Turk J Pediatr Dis [Internet]. 2019 May 24 [cited 2025 Aug. 23];13(3):208-12. Available from: https://turkjpediatrdis.org/article/view/614