Evaluation of coagulation disorders by thromboelastography in children with systemic lupus erythematosus

Background The coagulation status of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is quite complicated, and there are currently no simple efficient methods for its evaluation. We explored the feasibility of thromboelastography (TEG) for this purpose. Methods Paediatric SLE patients were divided into different groups based on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) scores. TEG parameters were compared between patients and healthy controls (HCs) and in patients by level of disease activity. Six patients treated with pulse methylprednisolone were also analysed before and after treatment. Results Thirty-nine children with SLE were enrolled, one of whom had bleeding and three of whom had thrombosis. The four TEG tracings of these four children were different. The TEG parameters of the patients (except the four children mentioned above) showed hypercoagulability, shortened R and K times, increased alpha-angle and maximum amplitude (MA), decreased LY30 and increased clot index (CI) compared with the parameters of the HCs (P < 0.05). With respect to disease activity, patients with higher SLEDAI scores showed more obvious hypercoagulability with shortened R and K times and increased alpha-angle and CI (P < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between both the R time and K time and SLEDAI scores (r = -0.435, P < 0.01 and r = -0.572, P < 0.001, respectively) and a positive correlation between both alpha-angle and CI and SLEDAI scores (r = 0.581, P < 0.001 and r = 0.544, P < 0.01, respectively). No significant difference in coagulation status was found between pre- and post-pulse therapy. Conclusions Compared with the HCs, paediatric SLE patients showed hypercoagulability caused by increased coagulation and decreased fibrinolysis. These coagulation changes were associated with disease activity. TEG could be a potential tool for evaluating the coagulation status of children with SLE.