News

Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis producing PR3-ANCA antibodies may have inadequate blood delivery to internal organs, such as the kidneys and spleen, leading to organ malfunction and pain, a case report suggests. The study, “PR3 vasculitis presenting with symptomatic splenic and renal infarction: a case report and…

Testing positive for anti-PR3 antibodies and showing lesions in the lungs and cartilaginous tissues could replace nasal biopsy for diagnosing patients with suspected granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and chronic rhinosinusitis, according to a pilot study. The study, “Should nasal biopsy inevitably be performed for…

Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) who have persistent antiphospholipid antibodies (APLAs) at diagnosis are at a greater risk of developing blood clots, with consequent obstruction of the blood flow, according to new research. The study, “Persistent antiphospholipid antibodies are associated with thrombotic events in ANCA-associated vasculitis: A retrospective…

High blood levels of a signaling molecule called interleukin-21, or IL-21, may identify patients with active ANCA-associated vasculitis (AVV), a pilot study suggests. The study, “Serum interleukin-21 positivity could indicate the current activity of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis: a monocentric…

Eye problems are a common symptom of granulomatosis with polyangiitis, of which clinicians should be aware as it can be an initial symptom of the disease, a study reports. Most of the time these manifestations are treatable by conventional immunosuppressive…

In rare cases, people with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis may also have symptoms of a chronic liver disease called primary biliary cirrhosis, a case report shows. To date, only six other cases of these overlapping conditions have been reported in the literature, so researchers have not been able to…

Denosumab, an approved treatment for osteoporosis, may sometimes trigger antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis with cytoplasmic ANCAs, a case study reports. While this treatment has been linked with vasculitis, this is the first report of a denosumab-derived cytoplasmic-ANCA vasculitis, the researchers say. The case study, “c-ANCA vasculitis…

Madeline Collin, a 24-year-old activist with Gaucher disease, worries that patients like her will suffer deeply if Britain leaves the European Union (EU), as scheduled, at the end of this month. Collin is an expert on the subject. For her University of Bath dissertation, she analyzed Brexit’s long-term…

Platelet-derived microparticles (PMPs) — small particles produced and released by platelets in the blood — may worsen inflammation in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis, according to a recent study. The findings of the study, “Platelets release proinflammatory microparticles in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis,” were published in Rheumatology.

With each new advance in medicine comes ethical dilemmas, from fertility treatments and newborn screening, to vaccinations, gene therapies and euthanasia. But rare diseases and the expensive therapies needed to treat them — particularly in an age of scarce economic resources — almost always entail “tragic choices,” warned Avraham Steinberg,…