PMID- 37476530 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20231020 IS - 2233-4718 (Electronic) IS - 2093-940X (Print) IS - 2233-4718 (Linking) VI - 30 IP - 1 DP - 2023 Jan 1 TI - Implication of Serious Infections in Patients With Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis for the First Cycle of Rituximab: A Pilot Study in a Single Korean Center. PG - 45-52 LID - 10.4078/jrd.22.0033 [doi] AB - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the clinical implications of serious infections in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) who received the first cycle of rituximab (RTX) during the first 6 months of follow-up. METHODS: The medical records of 36 AAV patients treated with RTX were reviewed. A weekly dose of 375 mg/m2 RTX was administered for 4 weeks to all patients along with glucocorticoids. Serious infections were defined as those requiring hospitalization. All-cause mortality during the first 6 months of follow-up was counted. The follow-up duration was defined as the period from the first RTX infusion to 6 months after the first RTX infusion. RESULTS: The median age was 60.5 years, and 16 patients were male. Seven of 36 patients (19.4%) died and three AAV patients had five cases of serious infection such as enterocolitis, pulmonary aspergillosis, atypical pneumonia, cytomegalovirus pneumonia, and cellulitis. AAV patients with serious infections during the first 6 months of follow-up exhibited a significantly lower cumulative survival rate than those without serious infections (p<0.001). However, we found no independent predictor of serious infections using the Cox hazard model analysis. CONCLUSION: Serious infection is an important predictor of all-cause mortality in Korean patients with AAV who received their first cycle of RTX but there were no significant variables to predict the occurrence of serious infections at the first RTX. Thus, in cases refractory to other induction therapies, RTX should be strongly considered, despite an increase in mortality rate. CI - Copyright (c) 2023 by The Korean College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved. FAU - Do, Hyunsue AU - Do H AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-9550-1048 AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Pyo, Jung Yoon AU - Pyo JY AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-1866-6885 AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Sup AU - Sup AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Sup AU - Sup AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Song, Jason Jungsik AU - Song JJ AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0662-7704 AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Sup AU - Sup AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Sup AU - Sup AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Park, Yong-Beom AU - Park YB AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4695-8620 AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Sup AU - Sup AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Sup AU - Sup AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Lee, Sang-Won AU - Lee SW AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8038-3341 AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Sup AU - Sup AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. FAU - Sup AU - Sup AD - Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20221206 PL - Korea (South) TA - J Rheum Dis JT - Journal of rheumatic diseases JID - 101571816 PMC - PMC10351358 OTO - NOTNLM OT - Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody OT - Infection OT - Mortality OT - Rituximab OT - Vasculitis COIS- CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported. EDAT- 2023/07/21 06:43 MHDA- 2023/07/21 06:44 PMCR- 2022/12/06 CRDT- 2023/07/21 04:07 PHST- 2022/08/14 00:00 [received] PHST- 2022/10/26 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2022/11/10 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2023/07/21 06:44 [medline] PHST- 2023/07/21 06:43 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/07/21 04:07 [entrez] PHST- 2022/12/06 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - jrd-30-1-45 [pii] AID - 10.4078/jrd.22.0033 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - J Rheum Dis. 2023 Jan 1;30(1):45-52. doi: 10.4078/jrd.22.0033. Epub 2022 Dec 6.