Objective: This study was aimed to assess the frequency of cardiac abnormalities in patients presenting with systemic lupus erythematosus at tertiary care hospital at Karachi.

Background: The classic autoimmune disease affecting several systems SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) comprises a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms and affects practically all organs and tissues. Cardiovascular system issues are frequently seen by patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). These patients' involvement of the pericardium, endocardium, myocardium, coronary, and pulmonary arteries was found throughout several clinical and postmortem investigations.

Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at Department of Medicine, JPMC, and Karachi for six months from March to September 2021. We included 124 patients using the total population sampling technique from the Outpatient Department. SPSS Version 23 was used to analyze the data.

Results: The mean age of participants was 51.66 years (SD±6.49), mean duration of SLE and BMI were 3.72 months (SD±1.24), 28.41 kg/m² (SD ± 2.56), respectively.  Out of 124 patients, 94 (75.8%) of the participants had urban residence. 57 (46%) participants had SLE for > 3 months, 18 (14.5%) were diabetic. The most common cardiac finding was pulmonary hypertension 50 (40.3%), followed by left ventricular dysfunction & hypertrophy 31 (25%) and right ventricular dysfunction & hypertrophy 30 (24.2%).

Conclusion: The majority of the patients experienced cardiac problems. Although all three layers of the heart may be damaged, however, endocardial damage was the frequent manifestation. Early diagnosis of echocardiographic abnormalities and diligent monitoring of cardiac abnormalities should be taken into consideration.

Keywords: SLE, cardiac abnormalities, Karachi, Pakistan