ObjectiveTo analyze the clinical characteristics and renal outcome of elderly patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis (AAV) with renal involvement. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 147 patients with ANCA relate vasculitis treated between June 2006 and June 2012. Based on the age, the patients were divided into elderly group (65 years or older, n=50) and non-elderly group (younger than 65, n=97). The disease course, clinical characteristics, ANCA serological indexes, renal pathological change and prognosis of patients in the two groups were compared and studied. ResultsIn the elderly group, there were 3 cases of Wegener granulomatosis (WG), 45 of microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and 2 of pauci-immune crescentic glomerulonephritis (PICGN). The non-elderly group had 8 cases of WG, 82 of MPA, 6 of PICGN, and 1 of allergic angitis granulomatosis. There were 5 cases of positive cANCA and 44 of positive pANCA in the elderly group. The elderly patients had significantly more pulmonary involvement than the younger patients (P=0.030). No significant difference was detected between the two groups in combined pulmonary infection (P=0.281) or combined infectious index C-reactive protein (P=0.326). Elderly patients were less likely to respond to sufficient treatment with pulse intravenous methylprednisolone therapy (P=0.035) and cyclophosphamide (P=0.043), and had worse renal outcome than younger patients (P=0.040). ConclusionElderly patients with AAV have more prevalent pulmonary involvement and have severe complication of pulmonary infection, which affects mortality and morbidity of ANCA-associated systemic vasculitis.
Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis with acute kidney injury (AKI) as the first manifestation, and provide new ideas for the prevention and treatment of this disease. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 144 patients diagnosed with ANCA-associated vasculitis in Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University between August 2013 and March 2020. The patients were divided into AKI group and non-AKI group according to whether they were complicated with AKI at admission, and the differences in clinical characteristics were analyzed. The risk factors were screened by multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Among the 144 patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis, 30 cases (20.8%) were complicated with AKI at admission, and 70 cases (48.6%) died by the end of follow-up. There were 16 death cases (53.3%) in the AKI group, and 54 death cases (47.4%) in the non-AKI group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Single-factor analyses showed that in the AKI group, the pre-admission incidence of hematuria, neutrophil count, serum creatinine, systolic blood pressure, and Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score were higher than those in the non-AKI group, while the red blood cell count and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were lower than those in the non-AKI group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the neutrophil count [odds ratio (OR)=1.172, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.003, 1.371), P=0.046] and eGFR [OR=0.942, 95%CI (0.907, 0.979), P=0.002] were independent influencing factors for AKI. Conclusions Elevated neutrophil count is an independent risk factor for ANCA-associated vasculitis complicated with AKI. It has certain guiding significance for clinical work. Early identification and intervention of these patients may contribute to reduce the case fatality rate and improve prognosis.
Objective To explore clinical features and risk factors of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients with pulmonary involvement. Methods A retrospectively study of clinical data of 113 AAV patients with pulmonary involvement was conducted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2015 to December 2020. The differences in general characteristics, treatment and prognosis of different types of AAV with pulmonary involvement were compared. In addition, the clinical characteristics and survival status between the pulmonary involvement group and the non-pulmonary involvement group (n=69) were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk factors. Results A total of 113 patients (57 males and 56 females) of AAV with pulmonary involvement were enrolled, including 86 cases of microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), 21 cases of granulomatosis polyangiitis (GPA), 6 cases of eosinophilia granulomatosis (EGPA). The average age was (67±11) years old. There was no significant difference in the age and gender distribution. The clinical manifestations were non-specific. Interstitial lung disease was common imaging feature of MPA, multiple nodules or mass was common in GPA, the incidence of sinusitis in EGPA was significantly higher (P<0.05). Seventy-three patients were complicated with extrapulmonary involvement. The most common organ involved was the kidney, followed by the cardiovascular and nervous system. The most important organs involved in MPA, EGPA and GPA were kidney, heart, and ear, nose, throat respectively. Compared with the non-pulmonary involvement group, the proportions of Birmingham vasculitis activity score (BVAS) ≥15 points, higher antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody titer and lower complement C3 or C4, pulmonary infection, mechanical ventilation and plasmapheresis in the pulmonary involvement group were significantly higher (P<0.05). Forty patients died during the follow-up. One-year cumulative survival was further calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, which demonstrated that pulmonary involvement was a risk factor for higher mortality in AAV patients. Compared with the survival group, the proportions of coronary heart disease, multiple organs involvement (n≥3), BVAS≥15 points, serum creatinine≥500 μmol/L, hemoglobin≤90 g/L, C-reactive protein≥10 mg/L, pulmonary infection, requiring mechanical ventilation, continuous renal replacement therapy and plasmapheresis in the death group were significantly higher (P<0.05). Conclusions AAV with pulmonary involvement is more common in the elderly, the morbidity is similar between male and female, and the clinical manifestations are usually non-specific. The chest imaging manifestations are mainly pulmonary interstitial changes, multiple nodules and masses. Multiple organs involvement occurs more often. BVAS≥15 points is independent risk factor for pulmonary involvement in AAV patients. The prognosis of AAV patients with pulmonary involvement is relatively poor. Combined with coronary heart disease, pulmonary infection and CRP≥10 mg/L are independent risk factors of poor prognosis.