Trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis and serious infections in granulomatosis with polyangiitis treated with rituximab.

Objective: To assess the association of trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) prophylaxis with serious infections in rituximab-treated patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included adults with GPA (2011-2020) within the United States Merative™ Marketscan® Research Databases with ≥6 months enrolment prior to first (index) rituximab treatment. We defined TMP-SMX prophylaxis as a ≥28-day prescription dispensed after or overlapping the index date.

Antiplatelet therapy to prevent ischemic events in giant cell arteritis: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common systemic vasculitis in adults. Presenting features include new-onset headaches, constitutional symptoms, jaw claudication, polymyalgia rheumatica, and visual symptoms. Arterial inflammation with subsequent stenosis and occlusion may cause tissue ischemia, leading to blindness, strokes, and myocardial infarction.

N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide is a biomarker for cardiovascular damage in systemic lupus erythematous: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Prediction models based on traditional risk factors underestimate cardiovascular (CV) risk in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In a large sample of unselected SLE patients, we investigated cross-sectional associations of NT-proBNP with cardiovascular damage (CVD).

Methods: Serum NT-proBNP was measured in SLE patients enrolled in the MUHC Lupus Clinic registry.

Unilateral metastatic pulmonary calcification in context of ipsilateral central pulmonary embolism.

We report a case of unilateral left metastatic pulmonary calcification (MPC) in a 30-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus, acute nephritis, and left main pulmonary artery pulmonary embolism. Unilateral MPC is rare and is mostly seen in the context of ipsilateral pulmonary embolism. The proposed mechanism is the promotion of calcium salts precipitation by focal alkalosis resulting from reduced blood flow to the lung affected by the pulmonary arterial obstruction.

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis during treatment of granulomatosis with polyangiitis with rituximab in the United States of America: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended during ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) induction. We aimed to describe the frequency, persistence, and factors associated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) use in an adult population sample with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) treated with rituximab (RTX).

Methods: We identified adults with GPA treated with RTX within the Merative™ Marketscan® Research Databases (2011-2020).

Evaluation of Oseltamivir Used to Prevent Hospitalization in Outpatients With Influenza: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Despite widespread use, summary evidence from prior meta-analyses has contradictory conclusions regarding whether oseltamivir decreases the risk of hospitalization when given to outpatients. Several large investigator-initiated randomized clinical trials have not yet been meta-analyzed.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of oseltamivir in preventing hospitalization among influenza-infected adult and adolescent outpatients.

CanVasc consensus recommendations for the use of avacopan in antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody-associated vasculitis: 2022 addendum.

Objective: In 2020, the Canadian Vasculitis Research Network (CanVasc) published their updated recommendations for the management of ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV). The current addendum provides further recommendations regarding the use of avacopan in AAV based on a review of newly available evidence.

Methods: An updated systematic literature review on avacopan (formerly, CCX168) using Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was performed for publications up to September 2022.

Outcomes associated with antiphospholipid antibodies in COVID-19: A prospective cohort study.

Background: The significance of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in COVID-19 remains uncertain.

Objectives: We determined whether aPL are associated with COVID-19 and/or thrombosis or adverse outcomes during hospitalization for COVID-19.

Methods: Symptomatic adults tested for SARS-CoV-2 for clinical reasons (March-July 2020) with either ≥1 positive polymerase chain reaction (COVID-19+) or all negative (non-COVID-19) results were recruited to a biobank collecting plasma, clinical data, and outcomes.

More than a 'Hundred Days War': Persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection in a patient with ANCA-associated vasculitis.

Background: Few reports exist on the characteristics and outcomes of persistent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in immunocompromised hosts.

Methods: A 49-year-old patient with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and a renal transplant experienced multiple hospitalizations for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia and relapses between October 2020 and February 2021. Careful chart review of medical history, hospitalizations, and microbiological testing including SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold values, therapies, and imaging was undertaken.

COVID-19 Hospitalizations, Intensive Care Unit Stays, Ventilation, and Death Among Patients With Immune-mediated Inflammatory Diseases Compared to Controls.

Objective: To investigate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalization risk in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) compared with matched non-IMID comparators from the general population.

Methods: We conducted a population-based, matched cohort study using health administrative data from January to July 2020 in Ontario, Canada. Cohorts for each of the following IMIDs were assembled: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis, systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs), multiple sclerosis (MS), iritis, inflammatory bowel disease, polymyalgia rheumatica, and vasculitis.

Best Practices for Virtual Care: A Consensus Statement From the Canadian Rheumatology Association.

Objective: To develop best practice statements for the provision of virtual care in adult and pediatric rheumatology for the Canadian Rheumatology Association's (CRA) Telehealth Working Group (TWG).

Methods: Four members of the TWG representing adult, pediatric, university-based, and community rheumatology practices defined the scope of the project. A rapid literature review of existing systematic reviews, policy documents, and published literature and abstracts on the topic was conducted between April and May 2021.

Understanding COVID-19 Risk in Patients With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: A Population-Based Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Testing.

Objective: To investigate the incidence of and factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 testing and infection in immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) patients versus matched non-IMID comparators from the general population.

Methods: We conducted a population-based, matched cohort study among adult residents from Ontario, Canada, from January 2020 to December 2020. We created cohorts for the following IMIDs: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS), iritis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), polymyalgia rheumatica, and vasculitis.

An Initiative to Improve Timely Glucocorticoid Tapering in Vasculitis.

Background/objective: High-dose glucocorticoids (GCs) are required in the initial treatment of systemic vasculitis. However, slow or delayed tapering can lead to unnecessary GC exposure and toxicity. In this quality improvement initiative, we aimed to increase appropriate GC tapering among newly referred patients awaiting specialty consultation at a tertiary vasculitis clinic.

Assessment of glucocorticoid tapering in large vessel and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitides.

Objectives: Glucocorticoids (GC) remain integral to large vessel vasculitis (LVV) and ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) treatment. We aimed to assess real-world GC tapering trajectories among patients referred for LVV or AAV and identify factors associated with 'delayed' tapering.

Methods: Patients first assessed at a vasculitis clinic July 2017-August 2019 for LVV or AAV and taking GC were included.

Expanding the phenotype of Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome: Craniovertebral junction anomalies.

Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome (WDSTS) is a rare autosomal dominant condition caused by heterozygous loss of function variants in the KMT2A (MLL) gene, encoding a lysine N-methyltransferase that mediates a histone methylation pattern specific for epigenetic transcriptional activation. WDSTS is characterized by a distinctive facial phenotype, hypertrichosis, short stature, developmental delay, intellectual disability, congenital malformations, and skeletal anomalies. Recently, a few patients have been reported having abnormal skeletal development of the cervical spine.

CanVasc Consensus Recommendations for the Management of Antineutrophil Cytoplasm Antibody-associated Vasculitis: 2020 Update.

Objective: In 2015, the Canadian Vasculitis Research Network (CanVasc) created recommendations for the management of antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitides (AAV) in Canada. The current update aims to revise existing recommendations and create additional recommendations, as needed, based on a review of new available evidence.

Methods: A needs assessment survey of CanVasc members informed questions for an updated systematic literature review (publications spanning May 2014 to September 2019) using Medline, Embase, and Cochrane.

Predictors of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events in ANCA-associated vasculitis: Data from the Toronto CanVasc cohort.

Objectives: Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis are at increased risk of cardiovascular events. The aim of the present study was to assess predictors of cardiovascular events in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis or eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients from the Canadian Vasculitis Research Network cohort in Toronto.

Treatment of systemic necrotizing vasculitides: recent advances and important clinical considerations.

: Primary systemic necrotizing vasculitides (SNVs) include polyarteritis nodosa, Kawasaki disease, ANCA-associated vasculitides, IgA vasculitis, and cryoglobulinemic vasculitis. All are rare but potentially severe, life-threatening conditions. Evidence-based treatments are well established, but continue to evolve and management requires some expertise.