Publications by authors named "Kaitlin A Quinn"
Article Synopsis
- The OMERACT Composite Working Group held a workshop in 2023 to discuss how to effectively weight components in composite outcomes, highlighting its complexities.
- The workshop included presentations on composite outcomes, a patient narrative, and engaging activities for participants to rank and assign weights to different domains.
- Findings revealed challenges in achieving consensus on domain importance, emphasizing the need for systematic methods and the inclusion of patient perspectives in future composite outcome research.
Article Synopsis
- VEXAS syndrome is a genetic disease primarily affecting older men, characterized by systemic inflammation, bone marrow failure, and skin issues, with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 4269 men over 50.
- A study of 112 patients revealed that 83% experienced skin involvement, making it a common symptom, with various histopathologic findings indicating conditions like leukocytoclastic vasculitis and neutrophilic dermatosis.
- Specific genetic variants were linked to different skin manifestations; treatment with oral prednisone was effective in improving skin symptoms for a majority of patients.
Article Synopsis
- VEXAS syndrome is an autoinflammatory disorder linked to mutations in the UBA1 gene, with thrombosis being a significant clinical feature affecting 49% of patients.
- The majority of thrombosis cases were venous thromboembolism (VTE), often occurring unprovoked, recurrent, and sometimes even in patients on anticoagulants.
- Despite the high incidence of VTE, overall patient survival was good, with an 88% survival rate over nearly 5 years, indicating that thrombosis does not significantly impact long-term survival in these patients.
Development of the Takayasu Arteritis Integrated Disease Activity Index.
Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken)
April 2024
Objective: Accurate clinical assessment of disease activity in Takayasu arteritis (TAK) can be challenging. F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) can directly measure vascular inflammation. This study details the development of a new type of disease activity index called the Takayasu's Arteritis Integrated Disease Activity Index (TAIDAI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Ageing and inflammation are associated with clonal haematopoiesis (CH), the emergence of somatic mutations in haematopoietic cells. This study details CH in patients with systemic vasculitis in association with clinical, haematological and immunological parameters.
Methods: Patients with three forms of vasculitis were screened for CH in peripheral blood by error-corrected sequencing.
Objective: To assess whether vascular activity seen on F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan is associated with angiographic change in large vessel vasculitis (LVV).
Methods: Patients with LVV were recruited into a prospective cohort. All patients underwent magnetic resonance angiography or computed tomography angiography and FDG-PET imaging.
Objective: To examine and compare disease activity over time in giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK) using multimodal assessment combining clinical, laboratory, and imaging-based testing.
Methods: Patients with GCA or TAK were enrolled into a single-center prospective, observational cohort at any point in the disease course. Patients underwent standardized assessment, including F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) at enrollment and follow-up visits.
Objective: ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) is characterized by fluctuating levels of disease activity, but no formal criteria exist to measure response to treatment. This Delphi exercise aimed to reach consensus about which measures are considered by patients and physicians to be most important when assessing response to treatment in clinical trials of AAV.
Methods: An international 3-round online Delphi exercise was conducted.
Objectives: To systematically review the psychometric properties of outcome measurement instruments used in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV).
Methods: Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, Scopus and Web of Science were searched from inception to 14 July 2020 for validation studies of instruments used in AAV. Following the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) and OMERACT frameworks, different psychometric properties (validity, reliability, responsiveness and feasibility) were summarized.
Objectives: To assess whether data from 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET should be incorporated into eligibility criteria for clinical trials in Takayasu's arteritis (TAK).
Methods: The study was conducted in two parts. Part one was an international online survey among physicians with experience managing TAK to determine, using clinical vignettes, whether FDG-PET data influence decisions about enrolment in trials.
Objective: Mouth and genital ulcers with inflamed cartilage (MAGIC) syndrome is characterized by overlapping features of relapsing polychondritis (RP) and Behcet's disease (BD). To date, no studies have defined the clinical spectrum of disease in a cohort of patients with MAGIC syndrome.
Methods: Adult patients within an ongoing prospective, observational cohort study in RP were clinically assessed for MAGIC syndrome.
Objectives: Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare, heterogeneous, systemic inflammatory disease that targets cartilage. Patient-reported outcome measures may differ from physician assessment. This study compared patient global assessment (PtGA) and physician global assessment (PhGA) scores in a prospective cohort of patients with RP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Vasculitis Working Group aims to develop composite response criteria for ANCA-Associated Vasculitis (AAV).
Methods: The project follows the OMERACT approach for composite measures: (i) choose relevant domains; (ii) define high-quality instruments; (iii) decide on a scoring system approach; (iv) put through the OMERACT Filter 2.1 for validation.
The study rationale was to assess the performance of qualitative and semiquantitative scoring methods for F-FDG PET assessment in large-vessel vasculitis. Patients with giant cell arteritis or Takayasu arteritis underwent independent clinical and imaging assessments within a prospective observational cohort. F-FDG PET/CT scans were interpreted for active vasculitis by central reader assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- A study identified somatic mutations in the UBA1 gene as the cause of a newly recognized syndrome called VEXAS, which affects a significant portion of patients diagnosed with relapsing polychondritis (RP).
- Of the 92 RP patients tested, 7.6% had UBA1 mutations, with notable differences in clinical features, mortality rates, and accompanying health issues compared to those with typical RP.
- A clinical algorithm was developed to help identify patients with VEXAS among those diagnosed with RP, showing high sensitivity and specificity based on factors like male sex and specific blood test results.
Physician Global Assessment as a Disease Activity Measure for Relapsing Polychondritis.
Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken)
August 2022
Objective: Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a systemic inflammatory disorder of cartilage that lacks validated disease activity measures. Our objective was to test physician global assessment (PhGA), a measure of disease activity commonly used in rheumatic diseases, in a cohort of patients with RP, which has not been done before.
Methods: Adult patients in an observational cohort of RP underwent standardized, comprehensive evaluation at approximately 6-month intervals.
Objectives: To evaluate the time-dependent effects of tocilizumab on vascular inflammation as measured by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in GCA.
Methods: Patients with GCA treated with tocilizumab were selected from a prospective, observational cohort. Patients underwent FDG-PET at the baseline visit prior to initiation of tocilizumab and at subsequent follow-up visits performed at 6-month intervals.
Background: A comprehensive review of outcome measures used in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) could advance trial conductance for this disease.
Methods: A systematic literature review of outcome measures (as specified in methods section as primary and/or secondary outcomes) in RCTs of AAV was conducted. Medline, Cochrane CENTRAL, and ClinicalTrials.
Objective: Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) is a clinically heterogenous disease. Patterns of clinical presentation in TAK at diagnosis have not been well described, and a "triphasic pattern" of constitutional symptoms evolving into vascular inflammation and fibrosis has been reported but never systematically evaluated.
Methods: Patients with TAK were prospectively recruited from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium (VCRC).
Objective: To assess the validity and clinical utility of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) to measure illness perceptions in multiple forms of vasculitis.
Methods: Patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA), Takayasu arteritis (TA), antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV), and relapsing polychondritis (RP) were recruited into a prospective, observational cohort. Patients independently completed the BIPQ, Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI), Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form survey (SF-36), and a patient global assessment (PtGA) at successive study visits.
Objective: To assess the relationship between measures of disease assessment in patients with large vessel vasculitis.
Methods: Patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) or Takayasu arteritis (TAK) were recruited into a prospective, observational cohort. Assessments within the following outcomes were independently recorded: 1) patient-reported outcomes (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, patient global assessment of disease activity [PtGA], Short Form 36 health survey [SF-36], Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire), 2) physician global assessment of disease activity (PhGA), 3) laboratory outcomes (C-reactive protein [CRP] level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR]), and 4) imaging outcomes (PETVAS, a qualitative score of vascular F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography activity).
Objective: Pseudostenosis is a magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) artifact that mimics arterial stenosis. The study objective was to compare imaging and clinical aspects of stenosis and pseudostenosis in a cohort of large-vessel vasculitis (LVV), including giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu's arteritis (TAK).
Methods: Patients with LVV and comparator conditions (healthy or vasculopathies) underwent MRA of the aortic arch vessels.
Objective: To evaluate whether a positive exercise echocardiogram (EE) predicts future development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in a high-risk cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).
Methods: Patients with SSc with features associated with an increased risk for PAH were recruited into a prospective, observational cohort. All patients underwent clinical assessment and EE.