Disease Activity and Adverse Events in Patients with ANCA-Associated Vasculitides Undergoing Long-Term Dialysis

International audienceBackground and objectives Kidney impairment of ANCA-associated vasculitides can lead to kidney failure. Patients with kidney failure may suffer from vasculitis relapses but are also at high risk of infections and cardiovascular events, which questions the maintenance of immunosuppressive therapy. Design, setting, participants, & measurements Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitides initiating long-term dialysis between 2008 and 2012 in France registered in the national Renal Epidemiology and Information Network registry and paired with the National Health System database were included. We analyzed the proportion of patients in remission off immunosuppression over time and overall and event-free survival on dialysis (considering transplantation as a competing risk). We compared the incidence of vasculitis relapses, serious infections, cardiovascular events, and cancers before and after dialysis initiation. Results In total, 229 patients were included: 142 with granulomatous polyangiitis and 87 with microscopic polyangiitis. Mean follow-up after dialysis initiation was 4.6±2.7 years; 82 patients received a kidney transplant. The proportion of patients in remission off immunosuppression increased from 23% at dialysis initiation to 62% after 5 years. Overall survival rates on dialysis were 86%, 69%, and 62% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. Main causes of death were infections (35%) and cardiovascular events (26%) but not vasculitis flares (6%). The incidence of vasculitis relapses decreased from 57 to seven episodes per 100 person-years before and after dialysis initiation ( P =0.05). Overall, during follow-up, 45% of patients experienced a serious infection and 45% had a cardiovascular event, whereas 13% experienced a vasculitis relapse. Conclusions The proportion of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis in remission off immunosuppression increases with time spent on dialysis. In this cohort, patients were far less likely to relapse from their vasculitis than to display serious infectious or cardiovascular events. Podcast This article contains a podcast at https://www.asn-online.org/media/podcast/CJASN/2021_11_08_CJN03190321.mp

Sustained Remission of Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis After Discontinuation of Glucocorticoids and Immunosuppressant Therapy: Data From the French Vasculitis Study Group Registry

Data on sustained remission of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) after discontinuation of therapy (referred to as GPA with sustained remission off-therapy [SROT]) are scarce. In the present study, SROT among GPA patients from the French Vasculitis Study Group Registry was evaluated to identify factors associated with its occurrence and durability

Prognostic Factors in Anti-glomerular Basement Membrane Disease: A Multicenter Study of 119 Patients

International audienceWe report the overall and renal outcome in a French nationwide multicenter cohort of 119 patients with anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease. Sixty-four patients (54%) had an exclusive renal involvement, 7 (6%) an isolated alveolar hemorrhage and 48 (40%) a combined renal and pulmonary involvement. Initial renal replacement therapy (RRT) was required in 78% of patients; 82% received plasmapheresis, 82% cyclophosphamide, and 9% rituximab. ANCA positive (28%) patients were older (70 vs. 47 years, p < 0.0001), less frequently smokers (26 vs. 54%, p = 0.03), and had less pulmonary involvement than ANCA- patients. The 5 years overall survival was 92%. Risk factors of death (n = 11, 9.2%) were age at onset [HR 4.10 per decade (1.89–8.88) p = 0.003], hypertension [HR 19.9 (2.52–157 0.2) p = 0.005], dyslipidemia [HR 11.1 (2.72–45) p = 0.0008], and need for mechanical ventilation [HR 5.20 (1.02–26.4) p = 0.047]. The use of plasmapheresis was associated with better survival [HR 0.29 (0.08–0.98) p = 0.046]. At 3 months, 55 (46%) patients had end-stage renal disease (ESRD) vs. 37 (31%) ESRD-free and 27 (23%) unevaluable with follow-up < 3 months. ESRD patients were older, more frequently female and had a higher serum creatinine level at presentation than those without ESRD. ESRD-free survival was evaluated in patients alive without ESRD at 3 months (n = 37) using a landmark approach. In conclusion, this large French nationwide study identifies prognosis factors of renal and overall survival in anti-GBM patients

Comparative study of granulomatosis with polyangiitis subsets according to ANCA status: data from the French Vasculitis Study Group Registry

International audienceOBJECTIVE: To investigate whether antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-negative and myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA-positive granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) differ from proteinase-3 (PR3)-ANCA-positive GPA. METHODS: Diagnostic characteristics and outcomes of newly diagnosed French Vasculitis Study Group Registry patients with ANCA-negative, MPO-ANCA-positive or PR3-ANCA-positive GPA satisfying American College of Rheumatology criteria and/or Chapel Hill Conference Consensus Nomenclature were compared. RESULTS: Among 727 GPA, 62 (8.5%) were ANCA-negative, 119 (16.4%) MPO-ANCA-positive and 546 (75.1%) PR3-ANCA-positive. ANCA-negative patients had significantly (p&lt;0.05) more limited disease (17.7% vs 5.8%) and less kidney involvement (35.5% vs 58.9%) than those PR3-ANCA-positive or MPO-ANCA-positive, with comparable relapse-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS). MPO-ANCA-positive versus PR3-ANCA-positive and ANCA-negative patients were significantly more often female (52.9% vs 42.1%), older (59.8 vs 51.9 years), with more frequent kidney involvement (65.5% vs 55.2%) and less arthralgias (34.5% vs 55.1%), purpura (8.4% vs 17.1%) or eye involvement (18.5% vs 28.4%); RFS was similar but OS was lower before age adjustment. PR3-positive patients’ RFS was significantly lower than for ANCA-negative and MPO-positive groups combined, with OS higher before age adjustment. PR3-ANCA-positivity independently predicted relapse for all GPA forms combined but not when comparing only PR3-ANCA-positive versus MPO-ANCA-positive patients. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this large cohort, ANCA-negative versus ANCA-positive patients more frequently had limited disease but similar RFS and OS. MPO-ANCA-positive patients had similar RFS but lower OS due to their older age. PR3-ANCA-positive GPA patients’ RFS was lower than those of the two other subsets combined but that difference did not persist when comparing only PR3 versus MPO-ANCA-positive patients

Microscopic polyangiitis: Clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes of 378 patients from the French Vasculitis Study Group Registry

International audienceObjective: To describe characteristics and long-term outcomes of patients with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), an antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated small-vessel necrotizing vasculitis.Methods: MPA patients from the French Vasculitis Study Group Registry satisfying the European Medicines Agency algorithm were analyzed retrospectively. Characteristics at diagnosis, treatments, relapses and deaths were analyzed to identify factors predictive of death or relapse.Results: Between 1966 and 2017, 378 MPA patients (median age 63.7 years) were diagnosed and followed for a mean of 5.5 years. At diagnosis, the main clinical manifestations included renal involvement (74%), arthralgias (45%), skin (41%), lung (40%) and mononeuritis multiplex (32%), with less frequent alveolar hemorrhage (16%), cardiomyopathy (5%) and severe gastrointestinal signs (4%); mean serum creatinine was 217 μmol/L. ANCA were detected in 298/347 (86%) patients by immunofluorescence and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Among the 293 patients with available ELISA specificities, 272 (92.8%) recognized myeloperoxidase and 13 (4.4%) proteinase-3. During follow-up, 131 (34.7%) patients relapsed and 78 (20.6%) died, mainly from infections. Respective 5-year overall and relapse-free survival rates were 84.2% and 60.4%. Multivariable analyses retained age >65 years, creatinine >130 μmol/L, severe gastrointestinal involvement and mononeuritis multiplex as independent risk factors for death. Renal impairment was associated with a lower risk of relapse.Conclusion: Non-renal manifestations and several risk factors for death or relapse were frequent in this nationwide cohort. While mortality was low, and mainly due to treatment-related complications, relapses remained frequent, suggesting that MPA management can be further improved

Tubulointerstitial damage and interstitial immune cell phenotypes are useful predictors for renal survival and relapse in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis

International audienceThe aims of this study were to determine whether tubulointerstitial damage in the form of interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy and total interstitial inflammation predicted progression to end stage renal disease (ESRD) and/or renal relapse (RR) in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV). One hundred thirteen patients with AAV from six French centers with an index biopsy performed between 2003 and 2013 were included. Histological assessments using the AAV glomerular classification and the kidney allograft Banff classification were performed on pathological review. Biopsy tissues were also investigated by CD3, CD20, CD68, CD163, FOXP3 and RORγt immunohistochemical staining. Competing risks models were calculated. Of the 113 patients, 26 (23.0%) died during follow-up and 29 (25.6%) developed ESRD. Among the 94 patients who achieved remission by the end of induction therapy without developing ESRD, 26 (27.6%) experienced RR. The two independent prognostic factors for ESRD were the estimated glomerular filtration rate at presentation (HR 0.35; 95% CI 0.23-0.51; P 25% (HR 2.27; 95% CI 1.18-4.37; P = 0.014). When the distribution of interstitial immune cell phenotypes was included in a second multivariable model, the organization of lymphocytic infiltrates was also an independent predictor of ESRD (HR 2.86; 95% CI 1.35-6.1, P = 0.006). The independent risk factors for RR were a higher CD3/CD20 ratio (HR 1.39; 95% CI 1.05-1.85; P = 0.02) and the presence of RORγt positive cells (HR 2.70; 95% CI 1.11-6.54; P = 0.02). Our results highlight the prognostic value of initial histological evaluations in AAV. Measurements of tubulointerstitial damage and interstitial immune cell phenotype distributions should be considered to improve risk assessments for ESRD and RR

Localised Versus Systemic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis: Data from the French Vasculitis Study Group Registry

Objective: To describe the main features at diagnosis and evolution over time of patients with localised granulomatosis with polyangiitis (L-GPA) compared to those of systemic GPA (S-GPA). Methods: EULAR definitions of L-GPA, i.e., upper and/or lower respiratory tract involvement, and S-GPA were applied to patients from the French Vasculitis Study Group Registry. L-GPA and S-GPA patients' characteristics at diagnosis and long-term outcomes were analyzed and compared

Treatment of systemic necrotizing vasculitides in patients aged sixty-five years or older: results of a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial of corticosteroid and cyclophosphamide-based induction therapy

To investigate a new therapeutic strategy, with rapid corticosteroid dose tapering and limited cyclophosphamide (CYC) exposure, for older patients with systemic necrotizing vasculitides (SNVs; polyarteritis nodosa [PAN], granulomatosis with polyangiitis [Wegnener's] [GPA], microscopic polyangiitis [MPA], or eosinophilic GPA [Churg-Strauss] [EGPA])