Vasculitis and Giant Cell Arteritis News

Rituximab, used alongside glucocorticoids, is highly efficacious in re-inducing remission among relapsed patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis, according data published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Learning Objectives:

The rare and complex Behcet’s disease is often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed, leading to significant, but unnecessary, morbidity, according to a presenter at the 2020 Interdisciplinary Autoimmune Summit.

The incidence and severity of COVID-19 among patients with rheumatic disease treated with targeted synthetic or biological DMARDs is consistent with those in the general population, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

The rate of hospitalizations due to serious infection in patients with vasculitis nearly doubled over a 19-year period, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

The long-term safety of rituximab was consistent with a shorter duration of treatment in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis or microscopic polyangiitis, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Secukinumab was safe and effective for Behçet’s syndrome among patients with a mucosal and articular phenotype refractory to previous conventional and biologic treatments, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children associated with COVID-19 may share overlapping clinical features with Kawasaki Disease unrelated to the pandemic, according to guidelines released by the American College of Rheumatology.

Patients with rheumatic diseases plus COVID-19 are more likely to require mechanical ventilation, but demonstrated similar clinical features and hospitalization rates as those with COVID-19 only, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

A biannual regimen of rituximab infusions over the course of 18 months was associated with a lower incidence of relapse in ANCA-associated vasculitis, compared with standard maintenance therapy, according to data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.