Vasculitis

Findings from two studies published in Rheumatology suggest that angiotensin receptor blocker use may be associated with an increased risk for developing giant cell arteritis, and that interferon-γ may warrant further investigation as a risk biomarker.

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

Recurrent venous thromboembolism is more common in people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis than among individuals in the general population who had an unprovoked first event, US researchers report in Rheumatology Advances in Practice.

Research from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance has identified a number of factors, including diagnosis and vaccine type, that are associated with flare risk following vaccination among people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.

Clinical practice guidelines have been developed to advise on the role of plasma exchange and the optimal dose of glucocorticoids in people with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis.

Plasma exchange is associated with a reduced risk for end-stage renal disease but an increased risk for serious infection in people with anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody-associated vasculitis, meta-analysis data show.

EULAR has issued recommendations for managing cardiovascular risk in people with antiphospholipid syndrome, gout, mixed connective tissue disease, myositis, Sjögren’s syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, or vasculitis.

Individuals with certain immune-mediated inflammatory diseases are at increased risk for premature coronary artery disease, show population-based study data from Taiwan.

A third dose of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine gives rise to a neutralizing antibody response in the majority of people with ANCA-associated vasculitis, but those treated with rituximab are unlikely to respond, researchers report.

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.

An analysis of data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance and EULAR COVID-19 registries suggests high rates of severe COVID-19 among people with primary systemic vasculitis or polymyalgia rheumatica.

Neurologic and ocular manifestations are common among people with ANCA-associated vasculitis but vary by disease type, show data from the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium reported at the ACR Convergence 2021 virtual meeting.

The majority of patients with giant cell arteritis generate an antibody response following both doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, researchers report in a letter to Rheumatology.

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.

Among people with immune-mediated diseases, COVID-19 vaccines have greater immunogenicity following the second compared with the first dose, and individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection have robust antibody responses, research suggests.