Vasculitis and Giant Cell Arteritis News

SAN DIEGO — In patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis, rituximab infusions customized to ANCA status do not appear to yield different relapse rates compared with systematic rituximab infusions, according to findings presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting,

I am thrilled to have Gary S. Hoffman, MD, MS, MACR, write this month’s Guest Editorial for Healio Rheumatology. No one, in my judgment, is better qualified to help us consider how the recent advances in giant cell arteritis will ultimately effect the way we treat the disease and, of course, ultimately how our patients can potentially benefit from these changes. New therapies must be critically appraised based on a skillful weighing of benefits and risk. We are fortunate to have one of the sages of vasculitis guide us through this process.

Members of the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance have developed three consensus treatment plans for patients with chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis resistant to NSAIDs and/or those with active spinal lesions, according to report published by the group.

SAN DIEGO — Renal transplantation reduced the mortality risk compared with remaining on a waitlist among patients with end-stage renal disease due to granulomatosis with polyangiitis, according to findings presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting.

During the first 3 years of giant cell arteritis, patients incurred a significantly greater cumulative incremental cost increase vs. age-matched controls, according to findings.

Population-based data from Denmark highlighted the incidence and prevalence of localized and diffuse tenosynovial giant cell tumor, according to results published in the Journal of Rheumatology.

Fatigue, including stress, and diet are the two most common triggers of oral ulcer recurrences in patients with Behcet’s disease, and most patients are able to identify these triggers, according to recently published findings.

Children hospitalized with severe antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis are increasingly treated with rituximab rather than cyclophosphamide, and these patients frequently continue to need dialysis, mechanical ventilation and prolonged hospitalization, according to recently published findings.

Although pregnancy-related concerns are common in patients with Takayasu arteritis, maternal and fetal outcomes appear to be good overall, according to findings

An international Delphi exercise appears to be useful in attaining expert consensus opinion regarding the items needed to identify disease activity in cases of large vessel vasculitis and will influence future development of large vessel vasculitis outcome measures, according to recently published findings.