Macrophage activation syndrome: an under-recognised complication in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus

Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a life-threatening complication in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus(J SLE). We report three cases of MAS in Juvenile SLE which occurred over the last 6 months. Interestingly, in all the 3 cases, MAS occurred acutely at the time of first presentation of lupus. All of them had fever at presentation. Two of them had lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly and one had hepatomegaly. All three of them had renal, one had heart and lung and another had central nervous system involvement. Table 1 summarises the laboratory findings.