FiveYear Mortality for Rheumatoid Vasculitis Around 60 Percent

Even though the annual incidence of systemic rheumatoid vasculitis has been decreasing since the 1990s, an analysis of 34 patients with the condition revealed that 5-year mortality following diagnosis is about 60%, according to MDConsult.com. Despite treatment advances and more aggressive treatment earlier in the course of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic rheumatoid vasculitis is still problematic if you do develop the condition. With vasculitis, blood vessels become inflamed. The affected blood vessels can be arteries that bring blood to the skin, nerves, and internal organs. Veins also can be involved in vasculitis.

Of the 34 patients, the mean age was 72 years old and the average of disease duration was 16 years before being diagnosed with systemic rheumatoid vasculitis. All patients were positive for rheumatoid factor, 13 had erosive disease, and 3 had rheumatoid nodules. All of the patients had been treated with corticosteroids, and a median of two DMARDs. Methotrexate was used in 65% of the patients. Two patients had been treated with biologic drugs. All but one patient had been treated with intravenous cyclophosphamide.

While newer treatments seem to have had an effect on incidence of systemic rheumatoid vasculitis, the treatments have not influenced clinical features of the disease or the ultimate outcome. Not all researchers attribute the decreased incidence to treatment though -- it could just be the natural evolution of rheumatoid arthritis which has made systemic rheumatoid vasculitis rare.

Related Articles:

• Vasculitis - What You Need to Know
• Giant Cell Arteritis - What You Need to Know
• More About Vasculitis
• More About Rheumatoid Arthritis

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