CT scan damage may predict ANCA-associated vasculitis outcomes

Patterns of lung damage on CT scans may help predict disease outcomes in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and determine which patients should receive more intensive treatment, a study in Germany suggests. Particularly, ground glass opacities (GGO), which are white diffuse regions due to fluid, airway collapse, tissue scarring,…

A European Medicines Agency (EMA) committee has issued a positive opinion recommending the approval of Fasenra (benralizumab) as an add-on treatment for adults with hard-to-treat eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). If approved for the recommended indication, the AstraZeneca therapy would be a new option for patients in…

High blood levels of the syndecan-1 protein, known to promote the survival of antibody-producing B cells, may help identify ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients with high disease activity — and those at risk of a poor prognosis — a new study suggests. The researchers defined two cut-off values of syndecan-1…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Fasenra (benralizumab) for treating adults with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare form of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Developed by AstraZeneca, Fasenra was already approved in more than 80 countries, including the U.S., as an add-on treatment…

Rituximab may be associated with a higher risk of serious adverse events, particularly infections, in people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). Time to first serious adverse event, as well as to second and multiple serious adverse events, is significantly shorter for patients treated with rituximab…

Tavneos (avacopan) effectively induces disease remission in adults with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), that is, bleeding from the small blood vessels in the lungs, according to a real-world study in the U.S. The therapy also let all patients reduce their dose of glucocorticoids, a…

A diagnosis of ANCA vasculitis can drastically change our world and our priorities. We may have to adjust many aspects of our life, but do we have to change our hopes and dreams? After my diagnosis of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a type of ANCA…

ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients treated with rituximab are up to four times more likely to develop hypogammaglobulinemia (HGG), or low blood levels of antibodies that help fight off infections, than people with other autoimmune conditions. That’s according to a real-world study in China that also found that higher…

Treatment with rituximab is superior to cyclophosphamide at inducing disease remission in people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), according to a single-center study in Iran. While the safety profiles of the two therapies were comparable, treatment with rituximab was more effective, the study found. Specifically, about 90% of…

Using data from the largest ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patient database compiled to date, researchers identified five new subgroups that predict patient outcomes better than classifying patients according to granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), two AAV subtypes. The new disease clusters, identified with advanced artificial intelligence (AI)…