Patricia Inacio, PhD, science writer —

The number of treatments for children with rare diseases has grown over the past decade, according to a new study. However, despite the increase, nearly 7,000 rare diseases are still lacking treatment. And federal incentives to boost treatment development for these rare diseases have primarily focused not on creating new…

Patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis, a subtype of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), have a higher rate of hospitalizations than the general population, a U.S. study reports. Their hospitalizations were also linked to higher morbidity, mortality, and costs. The study, “Inpatient epidemiology and economic burden of granulomatosis with polyangiitis: a…

High-dose glucocorticoids — a type of corticosteroid hormone — are commonly prescribed as part of remission-induction therapy to people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) in Europe, a retrospective study reports. The majority of the patients remained on glucocorticoids for over a year, but only a minority reached full…

Infection is a common complication of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) that tends to develop within six months of diagnosis, and in cases of  “mixed” infections — those caused by more than one type of bacteria, or by bacteria and fungi — can take a major toll on survival, a study…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Rituxan (rituximab), in combination with glucocorticoids, for the treatment of children ages two or older with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). GPA and MPA are the two subtypes of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), an…

In granulomatosis with polyangiits (GPA) patients, the levels of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCAs) — the autoantibodies associated with the condition — appear to correlate with worse disease activity, a study has found. However, ANCAs remain high in many patients who enter clinical remission, suggesting that disease management cannot…

Almost half of patients diagnosed with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) showed neurological symptoms in a single-site, retrospective study from India. But while nervous system involvement appears to be more common than thought, it does not affect long-term survival, its researchers said. The study, “Neurological Manifestations Do not Affect Cumulative Survival…

ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients with renal involvement have higher blood levels of certain small vesicles than either patients without kidney symptoms or people without this disease, a study found. These microparticles, which are positive for the myeloperoxidase (MPO) protein and carry the complement proteins C3a and C5a — central…

Researchers say an important clinical assessment is determining whether ANCA-associated vasculitis patients who need dialysis at disease onset, due to severe kidney damage, can become dialysis independent. A study has now found that people with AAV are more likely to achieve that independence if their kidney manifestations are…

Levels of rheumatoid factor — an antibody against healthy tissue found in some autoimmune diseases — appear to separate eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) patients into two subtypes with different disease mechanisms, a study suggests. “Subtypes in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis classified according to rheumatoid…