This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Background and objectives Kidney impairment of ANCA-associated vasculitides can lead to kidney failure. Patients with kidney failure may suffer from vasculitis relapses but are also at high risk of infections and cardiovascular events, which questions the maintenance of immunosuppressive therapy.
Design, setting, participants, & measurements Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitides initiating long-term dialysis between 2008 and 2012 in France registered in the national Renal Epidemiology and Information Network registry and paired with the National Health System database were included. We analyzed the proportion of patients in remission off immunosuppression over time and overall and event-free survival on dialysis (considering transplantation as a competing risk). We compared the incidence of vasculitis relapses, serious infections, cardiovascular events, and cancers before and after dialysis initiation.
Results In total, 229 patients were included: 142 with granulomatous polyangiitis and 87 with microscopic polyangiitis. Mean follow-up after dialysis initiation was 4.6±2.7 years; 82 patients received a kidney transplant. The proportion of patients in remission off immunosuppression increased from 23% at dialysis initiation to 62% after 5 years. Overall survival rates on dialysis were 86%, 69%, and 62% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. Main causes of death were infections (35%) and cardiovascular events (26%) but not vasculitis flares (6%). The incidence of vasculitis relapses decreased from 57 to seven episodes per 100 person-years before and after dialysis initiation (P=0.05). Overall, during follow-up, 45% of patients experienced a serious infection and 45% had a cardiovascular event, whereas 13% experienced a vasculitis relapse.
Conclusions The proportion of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis in remission off immunosuppression increases with time spent on dialysis. In this cohort, patients were far less likely to relapse from their vasculitis than to display serious infectious or cardiovascular events.
Podcast This article contains a podcast at https://www.asn-online.org/media/podcast/CJASN/2021_11_08_CJN03190321.mp3
- ANCA
- end stage kidney disease
- chronic dialysis
- cardiovascular
- immunosuppression
- disease activity
- relapse
- infections
- Received March 2, 2021.
- Accepted September 8, 2021.
- Copyright © 2021 by the American Society of Nephrology
If you are:
- an ASN member, select the "ASN Member" login button.
- an individual subscriber, login with you User Name and Password.
- an Institutional user, select the Institution option where you will be presented with a list of Shibboleth federations. If you do not see your federation, contact publications@asn-online.org.
ASN MEMBER LOGIN
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Purchase access
Pay Per Article - You may access this article (from the computer you are currently using) for 1 day for US$34.00
Podcast