Gray-scale ultrasound of the abdomen (a)  shows mild bowel wall thickening ( arrow ) and multiple small mesenteric lymph nodes.

Results from a retrospective analysis suggest that cytomegalovirus seropositivity at ANCA-associated vasculitis diagnosis is an independent risk factor for developing venous thromboembolism.

Adding infliximab to standard therapy with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin plus high-dose aspirin may decrease fever duration and prevent coronary artery lesions in children with Kawasaki disease, study findings indicate.

medwireNews : The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Vasculitis Foundation have issued evidence-based recommendations and expert guidance on managing Kawasaki disease (KD).

They then compared vaccine immunogenicity in 37 patients and 22 controls with available serum samples at 2–9 weeks after the second dose, finding that a comparable 97.3% and 100%, respectively, tested positive for immunoglobulin G antibody levels against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

Researchers have identified a minimum level of B cells in the peripheral circulation that may serve as a biomarker for response to COVID-19 vaccines among rituximab-treated patients.

Researchers have developed a calculator that could help clinicians predict the probability of a seropositive immunogenic response to mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRDs) receiving rituximab.

The most common indication for these therapies was antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (21%), followed by transplantation (20%), while rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, and B cell lymphoma each affected 6% of patients.

In a chart review of patients with childhood-onset rheumatic diseases treated with rituximab, over a quarter developed hypogammaglobulinemia and a similar proportion had infectious complications, researchers report.

Maria Prendecki (Imperial College London, UK) and colleagues evaluated immune responses to the Pfizer–BioNTech (BNT162b2) and Oxford–AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 nCoV-2019) vaccines in a total of 140 individuals with immune-mediated diseases, most commonly anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis or anti-glomerular basement membrane disease.

Factors significantly associated with reduced immunogenicity included age over 65 years (average seropositivity rate of 79%); a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (82%), idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (37%), antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (31%), and other vasculitides (83%); and treatment with glucocorticoids (66%), mycophenolate mofetil (64%), anti-CD20 agents (41%), and abatacept (63% and 40% when combined with methotrexate).

Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis who receive maintenance therapy with rituximab are more likely to remain in remission than those given azathioprine, according to the results of the RITAZAREM trial.

Computed tomography (CT) axial image of the lungs at the subcarinal level (a) shows marked stenosis of the left bronchus ( arrow ).

(a) Contrast media injection at the left common femoral artery reveals normal morphology (appropriate size and tapering) of the arteries of the proximal lower extremity.

Post-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart (a) shows a giant aneurysm in the proximal left anterior descending artery ( short black arrows ) close to the left coronary sinus ( long white arrow ).

Color Doppler study of the right common carotid artery  (a)  shows carotid artery aneurysm and mural thrombus partially occluding the lumen of the aneurysm ( arrow ).