Concomitant association of giant cell arteritis and malignancy: a multicenter retrospective case-control study.

International audienceBACKGROUND: Some studies suggest that there is an increased risk of malignancies in giant cell arteritis (GCA). We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of GCA patients with concomitant malignancy and compare them to a GCA control group.METHODS: Patients with a diagnosis of GCA and malignancy and with a maximal delay of 12 months between both diagnoses were retrospectively included in this study and compared to a control group of age-matched (3:1) patients from a multicenter cohort of GCA patients.RESULTS: Forty-nine observations were collected (median age 76 years). Malignancies comprised 33 (67%) solid neoplasms and 16 (33%) clonal hematologic disorders. No over-representation of a particular type of malignancy was observed. Diagnosis of GCA and malignancy was synchronous in 7 (14%) patients, while malignancy succeeded GCA in 29 (59%) patients. Malignancy was fortuitously diagnosed based on abnormalities observed in laboratory tests in 26 patients, based on imaging in 14 patients, and based on symptoms or clinical examination in the nine remaining patients. Two patients had a concomitant relapse of both conditions. When compared to the control group, patients with concomitant GCA and malignancy were more frequently male (p < 0.001), with an altered general state (p < 0.001), and polymyalgia rheumatica (p < 0.01).CONCLUSIONS: This study does not indicate an over-representation of any particular type of malignancy in GCA patients. Initial follow-up dictated by vasculitis may have led to an early identification of malignancy. Nevertheless, GCA male patients with an altered general state and polymyalgia rheumatica might more frequently show concomitant malignancies

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in intensive care units: a multicenter study by ESGCIP and EFISG

Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic, life-threatening disease commonly affecting immunocompromised patients. The distribution of predisposing diseases or conditions in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) and subjected to diagnostic work-up for PJP has seldom been explored. Materials and methods: The primary objective of the study was to describe the characteristics of ICU patients subjected to diagnostic workup for PJP. The secondary objectives were: (i) to assess demographic and clinical variables associated with PJP; (ii) to assess the performance of Pneumocystis PCR on respiratory specimens and serum BDG for the diagnosis of PJP; (iii) to describe 30-day and 90-day mortality in the study population. Results: Overall, 600 patients were included in the study, of whom 115 had presumptive/proven PJP (19.2%). Only 8.8% of ICU patients subjected to diagnostic workup for PJP had HIV infection, whereas hematological malignancy, solid tumor, inflammatory diseases, and solid organ transplants were present in 23.2%, 16.2%, 15.5%, and 10.0% of tested patients, respectively. In multivariable analysis, AIDS (odds ratio [OR] 3.31; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13–9.64, p = 0.029), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (OR 3.71; 95% CI 1.23–11.18, p = 0.020), vasculitis (OR 5.95; 95% CI 1.07–33.22, p = 0.042), metastatic solid tumor (OR 4.31; 95% CI 1.76–10.53, p = 0.001), and bilateral ground glass on CT scan (OR 2.19; 95% CI 1.01–4.78, p = 0.048) were associated with PJP, whereas an inverse association was observed for increasing lymphocyte cell count (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.42–1.00, p = 0.049). For the diagnosis of PJP, higher positive predictive value (PPV) was observed when both respiratory Pneumocystis PCR and serum BDG were positive compared to individual assay positivity (72% for the combination vs. 63% for PCR and 39% for BDG). Cumulative 30-day mortality and 90-day mortality in patients with presumptive/proven PJP were 52% and 67%, respectively. Conclusion: PJP in critically ill patients admitted to ICU is nowadays most encountered in non-HIV patients. Serum BDG when used in combination with respiratory Pneumocystis PCR could help improve the certainty of PJP diagnosis