Rheumatology Medical News about Vasculitis

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Clinical characteristics of myeloperoxidase antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis caused by antithyroid drugs
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 06/17/09

Noh JY et al. – Study reports that the time of onset of MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis and the dose at onset varied. The severity and number of organs involved were not correlated with the MPO-ANCA titre, warranting the need for vigilance even when the titre is weakly positive.

Methods

An analysis of pts with MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis to determine:
- Time of onset
- Drug and dose taken
- Clinical symptoms
- Relationship between the clinical symptoms and the MPO-ANCA titre, and the incidence
92 pts in whom the adverse reaction of MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis was reported were analysed

Results

Organ failure reported as:
- 41/92 (44.6%) pts had single-organ failure
- 34.8% had two-organ failure
- 14.1% had three-organ failure
- 2.2% had four-organ failure
- Number of organs involved was unknown in 4.3% of pts
Median time of onset was 42 mo after starting drug treatment
Median dose at onset of MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis was 15 mg/d for methimazole, and 200 mg/d for propylthiouracil
Severity and number of organs involved were not correlated with the MPO-ANCA titre
Incidence was between 0.53 and 0.79 pts per 10,000
Ratio of the estimated incidences for methimazole and propylthiouracil was 1:39.2