Granulomatosis with polyangiitis: Study of 795 patients from the French Vasculitis Study Group registry

Objective: To describe the characteristics and long-term outcomes of patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) from the French Vasculitis Study Group database. Methods: Patients' clinical and laboratory characteristics, Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS)assessed disease activity, malignancies, opportunistic infections, and vital status were collected at diagnosis and each visit. Estimated probabilities and predictors of overall (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) were analyzed by Cox regression. Results: We enrolled 795 newly diagnosed patients, followed for a median of 3.5 years. Initial clinical manifestations involved ear, nose & throat (ENT; 80%), lungs (68%) and kidneys (56%). Among the 728 available ELISA results, 75.0% were PR3-ANCA-positive, 16.5% MPO-ANCA-positive and 62 (8.5%) ANCA-negative. Relapses occurred in 394 (50%) patients, involving > 1 organ(s) affected at onset in 179 (46%), mainly ENT, lungs and kidneys, with mean BVAS 10.2 points below that at diagnosis (p < 0.001). Five-and 10-year RFS rates were 37% and 17%, respectively. PR3-ANCA-positivity independently predicted relapse (p = 0.05) and prolonged survival (p = 0.038). OS-but not RFS-improved significantly over time (p < 0.001); 10-year OS reached 88.2% (95% CI 83.9 to 92.7) for the 660 patients diagnosed after 2000. Infections were the main causes of death. Malignancy or opportunistic infection each occurred in < 5% of the patients. Conclusion: Survival has improved dramatically over the last decades but the high relapse rate remains a major concern for GPA patients, once again stressing the need for therapeutic strategy optimization to lower it. PR3-ANCA-positivity was associated with increased probability of relapse and survival. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study describes the characteristics and long-term outcomes of patients with GPA from the French Vasculitis Study Group database. It found that PR3-ANCA positivity was associated with increased probability of relapse and prolonged survival.