Volume 14, Issue 7: Lupus – finding the wolf in sheep’s clothing

Lupus – finding the wolf in sheep’s clothing

It is midday on a glorious summer’s day when the MDT flashes up with a new job ‘Category 2 call, 35-year-old female with chest pain’. You postpone lunch and set off, when you arrive the patient tells you she has lupus – is there a connection with chest pain?

CPD benefit

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can impact multiple body systems with chronic inflammation and can manifest as a complex clinical picture, This article outlines the aetiology and signs and symptoms of the disease. It can be characterised by general flare-up symptoms or manifestations of inflammation to a specific organ or system, which may result in a wide range of complications many of which can be life threatening. There is advice on how Lupus is treated and how it can be investigated and managed in the pre-hospital setting so that you can provide the best possible care for the patient where complications of the disease may be present.