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Allison Lint Ross looked like a typical healthy 16-year-old when she suddenly began to experience breathing difficulties, weakness, and disorientation that landed her in the emergency room. The talented violinist nearly died that day in 2004. Doctors discovered a lung hemorrhage and signs that her body was shutting…

ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) can cause recurrent bleeding in the lungs, which manifest as hemosiderosis — an excessive accumulation of iron deposits in tissues — and lung nodules, a case report suggests. The study, “Pathological and Radiological Correlation in Prolonged Myeloperoxidase Anti-neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-related Diffuse Alveolar Hemosiderosis,”…

Administering rituximab repeatedly may improve the response of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) to the medication, a study says. The findings were reported in the study, “Non‐Linear Rituximab Pharmacokinetics and Complex Relationship between Rituximab Concentrations and Anti‐Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies (ANCA) in ANCA‐Associated Vasculitis: The RAVE Trial Revisited,”…

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…

ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) with childhood onset often affects multiple organs, showing symptoms at diagnosis in the ear, nose, and throat, as well as pulmonary and renal complications, a single-center study shows. Also, researchers found, rituximab appears to be effective at inducing and maintaining remission in pediatric AAV patients.

Adding methylprednisolone pulse therapy to standard induction therapy does not appear to have any particular benefit for people with severe ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) who need dialysis, a study suggests. The study, “The effect of pulse methylprednisolone induction therapy in Chinese patients with dialysis-dependent MPO-ANCA associated…

People with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) are much more likely to develop a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma — nearly 13 times more likely — than those without this disease, a population-based study from Sweden reports. Other cancers, especially bladder and pancreatic cancer, were also more frequent…

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…

A low-dose glucocorticoid regimen, in which intravenous methylprednisolone (a type of steroid) is not routinely used, can be used to effectively treat ANCA-associated vasculitis in elderly patients, a new study shows. The study, “Long-term outcomes in elderly patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis,” was published in the journal Rheumatology.

Next month’s annual conference of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) in Washington, D.C., couldn’t come at a better time, says Marshall Summar, MD, chairman of NORD’s board of directors. “The pace of discovery in rare diseases has gone from brisk to hypersonic,” Summar told Bionews Services, publisher…