| LE | lactate extraction; left ear; left eye; leukocyte elastase; leukoerythrogenic; live embryo; Long Eva... |
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| LED | light-emitting diode; lowest emitting dose; lupus erythematosus disseminatus |
| LEF | leukokinesis-enhancing factor; lupus erythematosus factor; lymphoid-enhanced binding factor |
| LES | Lambert-Eaton syndrome; Lawrence Experimental Station [agar]; local excitatory state; Locke egg seru... |
| LN | Lesch-Nyhan [syndrome]; lipoid nephrosis; Lisch nodule; low necrosis; lupus nephritis; lymph node |
| drug-induced lupus | <dermatology> An inflammatory autoimmune disorder, similar to lupus, that develops in response to the use of a particular medication. It is characterised by anti-histone antibodies. More benign than the usual disease, with less renal involvement. The syndrome clears after stopping the offending drug. Drugs that are known to cause this reaction include procainamide, isoniazid, sulphasalazine, hydralazine, methyldopa, phenytoin, chlorpromazine and penicillamine. The arthritis, cardiac, pulmonary and systemic features may be present, but the kidney involvement (nephritis) and neurologic disease are rare. Symptoms generally resolve spontaneously after stopping the medication. Complications include myocarditis, pericarditis, thrombocytopenic purpura and infections. (18 Jul 2002) |
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| lupus | A systemic disease that results from an autoimmune mechanism. Individuals with lupus will produce antibodies to their own body tissues. The resultant inflammation can cause kidney damage, arthritis, pericarditis and vasculitis. (27 Sep 1997) |
| lupus anticoagulant | An immunoglobulin that interferes with blood coagulation and has antithromboplastin activity. This immunoglobulin can prolong blood clotting and occurs in approximately 25% of people with lupus. (27 Sep 1997) |
| lupus anticoagulants | Lupus anticoagulants are a common cause of a prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) which is corrected by the addition of platelet -rich plasma (or phospholipids) and not by platelet-poor plasma. The methods of choice for detection of lupus anticoagulants are the kaolin clotting time using the rabbit brain neutralisation procedure and the dilute Russell viper venom test (dRVVT). Current data suggest that lupus anticoagulants and antibodies to negatively charged phospholipids (cardiolipin, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylinositol) are risk factors for arterial and venous thrombosis and for recurrent abortions in populations of patients which are distinct but overlapping. Drug-induced lupus anticoagulants are also associated with increased risk of thrombosis. Current testing for lupus anticoagulants and phospholipid antibodies (cardiolipin plus phosphatidylserine) may be useful for assessing risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Some data indicate that lupus anticoagulants assays are more reliable predictors of thrombosis, foetal loss and thrombocytopenia than are cardiolipin antibody (ACA) assays. Although the technology is in many ways more reliable, the rush to describe associations of lupus anticoagulants with various disorders has been much less scientifically unseemly than has been that of ACAs with their bewildering variety of clinical associations. The contribution of one serious study must, it seems, render tolerable the excess of trivia recently published in this area. See also cardiolipin antibodies and phospholipid antibodies. (05 Mar 2000) |
| lupus band test | A direct immunofluorescent technique for demonstrating a band of immunoglobulins at the dermal-epidermal junction of the skin of patients with lupus erythematosus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| lupus coagulation inhibitor | An antiphospholipid antibody found in association with systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus erythematosus, systemic), antiphospholipid syndrome, and in a variety of other diseases as well as in healthy individuals. In vitro, the antibody interferes with the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin and prolongs the partial thromboplastin time. In vivo, it exerts a procoagulant effect resulting in thrombosis mainly in the larger veins and arteries. It further causes obstetrical complications, including foetal death and spontaneous abortion, as well as a variety of haematologic and neurologic complications. (12 Dec 1998) |
| lupus erythematodes | Skin disease in which there are red scaly patches, especially over the nose and cheeks. May be a symptom of systemic lupus erythematosus. (18 Nov 1997) |
| lupus erythematosus | Skin disease in which there are red scaly patches, especially over the nose and cheeks. May be a symptom of systemic lupus erythematosus. (18 Nov 1997) |
| lupus erythematosus cell | <pathology> Phagocyte that has ingested nuclear material of another cell: characteristic of systemic lupus erythematosus. (18 Nov 1997) |
| lupus erythematosus cell test | <investigation> A test for lupus that measures the presence of autoantibodies against nuclear proteins in the blood. Performed on a normal venipuncture specimen, this test is positive in 70 to 80% of patients with lupus. Some patients with rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and drug-induced lupus may also have a positive test result. (27 Sep 1997) |
| lupus erythematosus, cutaneous | A form of lupus erythematosus in which the skin may be the only organ involved or in which skin involvement precedes the spread into other body systems. It has been classified into three forms - acute (= lupus erythematosus, systemic with skin lesions), subacute, and chronic (= lupus erythematosus, discoid). (12 Dec 1998) |
| lupus erythematosus, discoid | A chronic form of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (lupus erythematosus, cutaneous) in which the skin lesions mimic those of the systemic form but in which systemic signs are rare. It is characterised by the presence of discoid skin plaques showing varying degrees of oedema, erythema, scaliness, follicular plugging, and skin atrophy. Lesions are surrounded by an elevated erythematous border. The condition typically involves the face and scalp, but widespread dissemination may occur. (12 Dec 1998) |
| lupus erythematosus profundus | A subcutaneous panniculitis with marked lymphocyte infiltration of fat lobules giving rise to deep-seated, firm, rubbery nodules that sometimes become ulcerated, usually of the face; may occur in systemic and localised lupus erythematosus. Synonym: lupus profundus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| lupus erythematosus, systemic | A chronic, relapsing, inflammatory, and often febrile multisystemic disorder of connective tissue, characterised principally by involvement of the skin, joints, kidneys, and serosal membranes. It is of unknown aetiology, but is thought to represent a failure of the regulatory mechanisms of the autoimmune system. The disease is marked by a wide range of system dysfunctions, an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and the formation of le cells in the blood or bone marrow. (12 Dec 1998) |
| lupus erythematosus test | <investigation> A test for lupus that measures the presence of autoantibodies against nuclear proteins in the blood. Performed on a normal venipuncture specimen, this test is positive in 70 to 80% of patients with lupus. Some patients with rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and drug-induced lupus may also have a positive test result. (27 Sep 1997) |