Systemic lupus erythematosus in a multiethnic US cohort (LUMINA): XXIII. Baseline predictors of vascular events

Smoking, previously not reported in SLE, emerged as a predictor of vascular events and should be strongly discouraged. Antiphospholipid antibodies and CRP support the role of inflammation and autoimmunity in the development of accelerated atherosclerosis in SLE. Ethnicity was not associated with vascular events in our patients.