Vasculitis and Giant Cell Arteritis News

CHICAGO — The majority of patients with giant cell arteritis who are treated with prednisone are unsuccessful in tapering the drug, unless combined with tocilizumab, and more than 80% of disease-related flares occur while prednisone is still in use, according to data presented at the 2019 Interdisciplinary Autoimmune Summit.

A core data set of 50 items collected from patients with giant cell arteritis, covering general and demographic information, as well as signs and symptoms, medical conditions and treatment, could provide a standardized collection of relevant information and help physicians make future diagnoses, according to a EULAR recommendation published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Primary care patients with inflammatory disease, particularly those with early-onset disease, demonstrate elevated rates of depression and anxiety, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies are linked to an increased prevalence of interstitial lung disease and pulmonary embolism in systemic sclerosis, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Faced with an increasing incidence and prevalence of autoimmune disease in the United States —approximately 23.5 million Americans are affected across the country, according to the NIH — Bonnie Feldman, MBA, DDS, says it is time to acknowledge what she calls “an invisible epidemic.”

More than 500 patient advocates met in Washington, D.C., this week in recognition of National Rare Disease Week, where they aim to educate and lobby members of Congress, as well as empower themselves to become better voices for those with conditions that seldom get the spotlight.

Patients with childhood Takayasu arteritis have a 3% mortality rate within the first year after diagnosis, as well as a 50% morbidity rate within the first 5 years, according to findings published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Mycophenolate mofetil is noninferior to cyclophosphamide for remission induction among patients with nonlife-threatening ANCA-associated vasculitis, or AAV, but resulted in a higher relapse rate, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Infliximab demonstrated safe and effective results for patients with refractory uveoretinitis related to Behçet’s disease, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Splashy headlines in the mainstream media that proclaim advances in medicine are often not what they seem. That may be the case with a recent series of FDA approvals surrounding the direct-to-consumer genetic testing platform, 23andMe.