Vasculitis and Giant Cell Arteritis News

Takayasu arteritis is uncommon in Southern Sweden, but rates are higher than previous estimates and comparable to rates in other parts of Europe, according to recently published research.

Unresolved issues were present in the treatment and diagnosis of early pulmonary hypertension in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, who are at higher risk for pulmonary arterial hypertension, according to researchers at the Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in Ankara, Turkey.

The risk of mortality was higher in patients with rheumatic autoimmune diseases at 30 days and 12 months following myocardial infarction, and patients faced lower rates of revascularization, according to recently published research.

CT angiography successfully showed improvements made by glucocorticoid treatment in patients with giant-cell arteritis who presented with large-vessel vasculitis, according to researchers from the University of Barcelona.

Patients with autoimmune diseases who developed Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia were more likely to have taken high doses of glucocorticoids, according to recently published research.

Patients with vascular manifestations of Behçet’s disease who received treatment with anticoagulants did not benefit from the therapy given in addition to immunosuppressant drugs, according to results from study of practices in Turkish rheumatology clinics.

Identification of Henoch-Schönlein purpura using European League Against Rheumatism 2006 criteria in patients with cutaneous vasculitis showed discordant results compared with two other criteria sets, researchers found.

Varicella zoster virus may be linked to giant cell arteritis among the elderly, according data from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

A number of patients with cutaneous vasculitis may also have an underlying bacterial infection, according to researchers from the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla and the rheumatology division of the Epidemiology, Genetics and Atherosclerosis Research Group in Santander, Spain.

The incidence of drug-associated cutaneous vasculitis was associated with the administration of antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, according to researchers from the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla in Santander, Spain.