In rare cases, ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) can result in muscle weakness that affects mainly the trunk and the muscles closest to the trunk due to blood vessel inflammation within the muscles, a study shows. Comprehensive tests of four AAV patients with this distinct clinical feature show that muscle symptoms…
People with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) that affects their kidneys are at a significantly increased risk of kidney failure if they show a high proportion of inflamed glomeruli (the organ’s filtering units) on biopsies collected at diagnosis, a study has found. The study, “Renal histopathological predictors of…
High blood levels of the immune protein C4 are significantly associated with greater kidney-specific disease activity and a higher chance of developing kidney failure with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), the most common type of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a study shows. For this reason, measuring blood C4 levels may help predict…
Nearly all ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients undergoing a bronchoscopy — a minimally invasive procedure to examine the lungs and air passages — at disease onset show lung involvement, a study reported. Bleeding from the alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs where gases are exchanged, also was the most…
Blood levels of ANCAs — the disease-causing antibodies that give ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) its name — can be used to help distinguish AAV from other conditions in which ANCAs might also be present, a study showed. Higher levels of the antibodies at diagnosis also were significantly tied to greater…
The severity of anemia, or low levels of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin, is significantly associated with certain kidney lesions in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and kidney involvement, a study showed. These findings “reflect an additional aspect of anemia pathophysiology [disease mechanisms] in ANCA-associated renal vasculitis,” the researchers wrote. The study,…
Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is the most common type of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) in Italy and is linked to worse symptoms and higher mortality and healthcare costs than microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), another common AAV type, a study finds. Using immunosuppressive glucocorticoids was also associated with higher costs…
Depression is a challenging illness to manage. When I have a depressive spell, it feels like I’m stuck in a cold, gray fog with no way out. No matter what I do, I can’t see past the gloom. For the past two weeks, I’ve been lost in it. Dealing…
Treatment with rituximab has a similar efficacy to cyclophosphamide — both of them standard immunosuppressive therapies — in reducing short-time mortality in adults with life-threatening ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a study in Japan found. Moreover, rituximab was associated with a significantly lower risk of fungal infections relative to cyclophosphamide. However,…
A treatment regimen that combines low-dose glucocorticoids and rituximab is just as effective at controlling ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) as a standard regimen of high-dose glucocorticoids and rituximab, according to two-year data from a clinical trial. The long-term findings indicate that, while the efficacy is comparable, the risk of serious…
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