Skip Navigation

Rheumatology 2008 47(4):530-534; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken035
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Stassen, P. M.
Right arrow Articles by Stegeman, C. A.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Stassen, P. M.
Right arrow Articles by Stegeman, C. A.
Related Collections
Right arrow Vasculitis
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Venous thromboembolism in ANCA-associated vasculitis—incidence and risk factors

P. M. Stassen1,*, R. P. H. Derks2,*, C. G. M. Kallenberg2 and C. A. Stegeman3

1Department of Internal Medicine, Medisch Spectrum Twente, Enschede, 2Department of Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen and 3Department of Nephrology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Correspondence to: P. M. Stassen, Department of Internal Medicine, Medisch Spectrum Twente, PO box 50000, 7500 KA Enschede, The Netherlands. E-mail: p.m.stassen{at}int.umcg.nl; pstassen{at}home.nl


  Abstract

Objectives. In patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), an increased incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE), mainly during active disease, has been described. In a large cohort of AAV patients, we assessed the incidence of VTE and its relation with disease activity and classic risk factors for VTE.

Methods. Patients newly diagnosed with AAV between 1990 and 2005 and treated with cyclophosphamide and corticosteroids were included. Data were retrospectively retrieved from charts and by questionnaire. The incidence of VTE associated with and following a diagnosis of AAV was calculated (VTE/100 person-years) and related to periods with active disease.

Results. One hundred and ninety-eight patients with AAV were followed for 6.1 (0.2–17.6) yrs. In 23 patients (12%), 25 VTEs (17 deep venous thromboses, 3 pulmonary emboli, 5 both) occurred in association with AAV, of which 52% occurred during active disease, defined as 3 months before and after diagnosis or relapse of AAV. Overall, VTE incidence was 1.8/100 person-years, increasing to 6.7/100 during active disease. VTEs occurred significantly less frequently in patients with WG than in patients with microscopic polyangiitis and renal limited vasculitis. Classic risk factors were present in most patients at some moment during follow-up. There were no significant differences in classic risk factors between patients with and without AAV-associated VTE.

Conclusions. Patients with AAV have an increased risk of developing VTEs, especially when AAV is active. This finding could not be explained by classic risk factors, but is probably related to endothelial changes and hypercoagulability induced by AAV and its therapy.

KEY WORDS: ANCA-associated vasculitis, Venous thromboembolism, Incidence, Risk factors

*PM Stassen and RPH Derks equally contributed to this work.

Submitted 13 October 2007; revised version accepted 14 January 2008.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.