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Treatment is targeted to the underlying cause. However, most vasculitis in general are treated with steroids (e.g. methylprednisolone) because the underlying cause of the vasculitis is due to hyperactive immunological damage. Immunosuppressants such as cyclophosphamide and azathioprine may also be given.
A systematic review of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) positive vasculitis identified best treatments depending on whether the goal is to induce remission or maintenance and depending on severity of the vasculitis.
Treatments are generally directed toward stopping the inflammation and suppressing the immune system. Typically, corticosteroids such as prednisone are used. Additionally, other immune suppression drugs, such as cyclophosphamide and others, are considered. In case of an infection, antimicrobial agents including cephalexin may be prescribed. Affected organs (such as the heart or lungs) may require specific medical treatment intended to improve their function during the active phase of the disease.
The customary treatment involves long term dosage of prednisone, alternated or combined with cytotoxic drugs, such as cyclophosphamide or azathioprine.
Plasmapheresis may also be indicated in the acute setting to remove ANCA antibodies.
Rituximab has been investigated, and in April 2011 approved by the FDA when used in combination with glucocorticoids in adult patients.
Treatment for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis includes glucocorticoids (such as prednisolone) and other immunosuppressive drugs (such as azathioprine and cyclophosphamide). In many cases, the disease can be put into a type of chemical remission through drug therapy, but the disease is chronic and lifelong.
A systematic review conducted in 2007 indicated all patients should be treated with high-dose steroids, but in patients with a five-factor score of one or higher, cyclophosphamide pulse therapy should be commenced, with 12 pulses leading to fewer relapses than six. Remission can be maintained with a less toxic drug, such as azathioprine or methotrexate.
On December 12, 2017, the FDA approved mepolizumab, the first drug therapy specifically indicated for the treatment of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis. Patients taking mepolizumab experienced a "significant improvement" in their symptoms.
Treatment should be directed towards the specific underlying cause of the vasculitis. If no underlying cause is found and the vasculitis is truly limited to the skin then treatment is primarily supportive. Such treatment involves measures such as leg elevation, stockings, and topical steroids to relieve itching/burning. If the vasculitis does not self-resolve within 3–4 weeks, more aggressive treatment may be warranted. Oral colchicine or dapsone are often used for this purpose. If rapid control of symptoms is needed, a short course of high-dose oral steroids may be given. Immunosuppressive agents such as methotrexate and azathioprine may be used in truly refractory cases not responsive to colchicine or dapsone.
The standard treatment for GPA is cyclophosphamide and high dose corticosteroids for remission induction and less toxic immunosuppressants like azathioprine, leflunomide, methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil. Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole may also help prevent relapse. Rituximab may be substituted for cyclophosphamide in inducing remission.
A systematic review of 84 trials examined the evidence for various treatments in GPA. Many trials include data on pooled groups of people with GPA and microscopic polyangiitis. In this review, cases are divided between localised disease, non-organ threatening, generalized organ-threatening disease and severe kidney vasculitis and immediately life-threatening disease.
- In generalised non-organ-threatening disease, remission can be induced with methotrexate and steroids, where the steroid dose is reduced after a remission has been achieved and methotrexate used as maintenance.
- In case of organ-threatening disease, pulsed intravenous cyclophosphamide with steroids is recommended. Once remission has been achieved, azathioprine and steroids can be used to maintain remission.
- In severe kidney vasculitis, the same regimen is used but with the addition of plasma exchange.
- In pulmonary haemorrhage, high doses of cyclophosphamide with pulsed methylprednisolone may be used, or alternatively CYC, steroids, and plasma exchange.
Therapy for GPA and MPA has two main components: induction of remission with initial immunosuppressive therapy, and maintenance of remission with immunosuppressive therapy for a variable period to prevent relapse.
The mainstay of treatment for granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a combination of corticosteroids and cytotoxic agents.
- Medications
- Side effect treatments
- Plasma exchange
- Kidney transplant
Analgesics may be needed for the abdominal and joint pains. It is uncertain as to whether HSP needs treatment beyond controlling the symptoms. Most patients do not receive therapy because of the high spontaneous recovery rate. Steroids are generally avoided. However, if they are given early in the disease episode, the duration of symptoms may be shortened, and abdominal pain can improve significantly. Moreover, the chance of severe kidney problems may be reduced. A systematic review of randomized clinical trials did not find any evidence that steroid treatment (prednisone) is effective at decreasing the likelihood of developing long-term kidney disease.
Evidence of worsening kidney damage would normally prompt a kidney biopsy. Treatment may be indicated on the basis of the appearance of the biopsy sample; various treatments may be used, ranging from oral steroids to a combination of intravenous methylprednisolone (steroid), cyclophosphamide and dipyridamole followed by prednisone. Other regimens include steroids/azathioprine, and steroids/cyclophosphamide (with or without heparin and warfarin). Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is occasionally used.
There is no evidence from randomized clinical trials that treating children who have HSP with antiplatelet agent prevents persistent kidney disease. There is also no evidence from randomized clinical trials that treating children or adults with cyclophosphamide prevents severe kidney disease. Heparin treatment is not justified.
Most people with Takayasu’s arteritis respond to steroids such as prednisone. The usual starting dose is approximately 1 milligram per kilogram of body weight per day (for most people, this is approximately 60 milligrams a day). Because of the significant side effects of long-term high-dose prednisone use, the starting dose is tapered over several weeks to a dose which controls symptoms while limiting the side effects of steroids.
Promising results are achieved with mycophenolate and tocilizumab. If treatment is not kept to a high standard, long-term damage or death can occur.
For patients who do not respond to steroids may require revascularization, either via vascular bypass or angioplasty and stenting. Outcomes following revascularization vary depending on the severity of the underlying disease
Treatment of mixed cryoglobulinemic disease is, similar to type I disease, directed toward treating any underlying disorder. This includes malignant (particularly Waldenström's macroglobulinemia in type II disease), infectious, or autoimmune diseases in type II and III disease. Recently, evidence of hepatitis C infection has been reported in the majority of mixed disease cases with rates being 70-90% in areas with high incidences of hepatitis C. The most effective therapy for hepatitis C-associated cryoglobulinemic disease consists of a combination of anti-viral drugs, pegylated INFα and ribavirin; depletion of B cells using rituximab in combination with antiviral therapy or used alone in patients refractory to antiviral therapy has also proven successful in treating the hepatitis C-associated disease. Data on the treatment of infectious causes other than hepatitis C for the mixed disease are limited. A current recommendation treats the underlying disease with appropriate antiviral, anti-bacterial, or anti-fungal agents, if available; in cases refractory to an appropriate drug, the addition of immunosuppressive drugs to the therapeutic regimen may improve results. Mixed cryoglobulinemic disease associated with autoimmune disorders is treated with immunosuppressive drugs: combination of a corticosteroid with either cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, or mycophenolate or combination of a corticosteroid with rituximab have been used successfully to treated mixed disease associated with autoimmune disorders.
Treatment involves medications to suppress the immune system, including prednisone and cyclophosphamide. In some cases, methotrexate or leflunomide may be helpful. Some patients have also noticed a remission phase when a four-dose infusion of rituximab is used before the leflunomide treatment is begun. Therapy results in remissions or cures in 90% of cases. Untreated, the disease is fatal in most cases. The most serious associated conditions generally involve the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. A fatal course usually involves gastrointestinal bleeding, infection, myocardial infarction, and/or kidney failure.
In case of remission, about 60% experience relapse within five years. In cases caused by hepatitis B virus, however, recurrence rate is only around 6%.
There are no prospective randomized controlled trials studying therapies for relapsing polychondritis. Evidence for efficacy of treatments is based on case reports and series of small groups of patients.
For mild cases limited to joint pain or arthritis, oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may be used. Other treatments typically involve medications to suppress the immune system. Corticosteroids are frequently used for more serious disease. Steroid-sparing medications such as azathioprine or methotrexate may be used to minimize steroid doses and limit the side effects of steroids. For severe disease cyclophosphamide is often given in addition to high dose intravenous steroids.
Treatment of secondary cryofibrinoginemic disease may use the same methods used for treating the primary disease wherever necessary but focus on treating the associated infectious, malignant, premalignant, vasculitis, or autoimmune disorder with the methods prescribed for the associated disorder. Case report studies suggest that: corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drug regimens, antimicrobial therapy, and anti-neoplastic regimens can be effective treatments for controlling the cryfibrinoginemic disease in cases associated respectively with autoimmune, infectious, and premalignant/malignant disorders.
Studies on the treatment of cryofibrinoginemic disease have involved relatively few patients, are limited primarily to case reports, and differ based on whether the disease is primary or secondary. In all cases of cryofibrinogenemic disease, however, patients should avoid the exposure of afflicted body parts to cold weather or other environmental triggers of symptoms and avoid using cigarettes or other tobacco products. In severe cases, these individuals also risk developing serious thrombotic events which lead to tissue necrosis that may result in secondary bacterial infections and require intensive antimicrobial therapy and/or amputations. Careful treatment of these developments is required.
No specific cure is known. Treatment is largely supportive. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are indicated for tender lymph nodes and fever, and corticosteroids are useful in severe extranodal or generalized disease.
Symptomatic measures aimed at relieving the distressing local and systemic complaints have been described as the main line of management of KFD. Analgesics, antipyretics, NSAIDs, and corticosteroids have been used. If the clinical course is more severe, with multiple flares of bulky enlarged cervical lymph nodes and fever, then a low-dose corticosteroid treatment has been suggested.
People affected by the severest, often life-threatening, complications of cryoglobulinemic disease require urgent plasmapharesis and/or plasma exchange in order to rapidly reduce the circulating levels of their cryoglobulins. Complications commonly requiring this intervention include: hyperviscosity disease with severe symptoms of neurological (e.g. stroke, mental impairment, and myelitis) and/or cardiovascular (e.g., congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction) disturbances; vasculitis-driven intestinal ischemia, intestinal perforation, cholecystitis, or pancreatitis, causing acute abdominal pain, general malaise, fever, and/or bloody bowel movements; vasculitis-driven pulmonary disturbances (e.g. coughing up blood, acute respiratory failure, X-ray evidence of diffuse pulmonary infiltrates caused by diffuse alveolar hemorrhage); and severe kidney dysfunction due to intravascular deposition of immunoglobulins or vasculitis. Along with this urgent treatment, severely symptomatic patients are commonly started on therapy to treat any underlying disease; this treatment is often supplemented with anti-inflammatory drugs such as corticosteroids (e.g., dexamethasone) and/or immunosuppressive drugs. Cases where no underlying disease is known are also often treated with the latter corticosteroid and immunosuppressive medications.
Systemic corticosteroids such as (prednisone) can produce rapid improvement and are the “gold standard” for treatment. The temperature, white blood cell count, and eruption improve within 72 hours. The skin lesions clear within 3 to 9 days. Abnormal laboratory values rapidly return to normal. There are, however, frequent recurrences. Corticosteroids are tapered within 2 to 6 weeks to zero.
Resolution of the eruption is occasionally followed by milia and scarring. The disease clears spontaneously in some patients. Topical and/or intralesional corticosteroids may be effective as either monotherapy or adjuvant therapy.
Oral potassium iodide or colchicine may induce rapid resolution.
Patients who have a potential systemic infection or in whom corticosteroids are contraindicated can use these agents as a first-line therapy.
In one study, indomethacin, 150 mg per day, was given for the first week, and 100 mg per day was given for 2 additional weeks. Seventeen of 18 patients had a good initial response; fever and arthralgias were markedly attenuated within 48 hours, and eruptions cleared between 7 and 14 days.
Patients whose cutaneous lesions continued to develop were successfully treated with prednisone (1 mg/kg per day). No patient had a relapse after discontinuation of indomethacin.
Other alternatives to corticosteroid treatment include dapsone, doxycycline, clofazimine, and cyclosporine. All of these drugs influence migration and other functions of neutrophils.
Children with Kawasaki disease should be hospitalized and cared for by a physician who has experience with this disease. When in an academic medical center, care is often shared between pediatric cardiology, pediatric rheumatology, and pediatric infectious disease specialists (although no specific infectious agent has been identified as yet). Treatment should be started as soon as the diagnosis is made to prevent damage to the coronary arteries.
Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is the standard treatment for Kawasaki disease and is administered in high doses with marked improvement usually noted within 24 hours. If the fever does not respond, an additional dose may have to be considered. In rare cases, a third dose may be given to the child. IVIG by itself is most useful within the first seven days of onset of fever, in terms of preventing coronary artery aneurysm.
Salicylate therapy, particularly aspirin, remains an important part of the treatment (though questioned by some) but salicylates alone are not as effective as IVIG. Aspirin therapy is started at high doses until the fever subsides, and then is continued at a low dose when the patient returns home, usually for two months to prevent blood clots from forming. Except for Kawasaki disease and a few other indications, aspirin is otherwise normally not recommended for children due to its association with Reye's syndrome. Because children with Kawasaki disease will be taking aspirin for up to several months, vaccination against varicella and influenza is required, as these infections are most likely to cause Reye's syndrome.
High-dose aspirin is associated with anemia and does not confer benefit to disease outcomes.
Corticosteroids have also been used, especially when other treatments fail or symptoms recur, but in a randomized controlled trial, the addition of corticosteroid to immune globulin and aspirin did not improve outcome. Additionally, corticosteroid use in the setting of Kawasaki disease is associated with increased risk of coronary artery aneurysm, so its use is generally contraindicated in this setting. In cases of Kawasaki disease refractory to IVIG, cyclophosphamide and plasma exchange have been investigated as possible treatments, with variable outcomes.
Before modern treatments, the 2-year mortality was over 90% and average survival five months. Death usually resulted from uremia or respiratory failure.
With corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide, 5-year survival is over 80%. Long-term complications are common (86%), mainly chronic kidney failure, hearing loss and deafness.
Today, drug toxicity is managed more carefully and long-term remissions are possible. Some patients are able to lead relatively normal lives and remain in remission for 20+ years after treatment.
Treatment is first with many different high-dose steroids, namely glucocorticoids. Then, if symptoms do not improve additional immunosuppression such as cyclophosphamide are added to decrease the immune system's attack on the body's own tissues. Cerebral vasculitis is a very rare condition that is difficult to diagnose, and as a result there are significant variations in the way it is diagnosed and treated.
The optimal treatment is prevention. Rigorous and continuous control of phosphate and calcium balance most probably will avoid the metabolic changes which may lead to calciphylaxis.
There is no specific treatment. Of the treatments that exist, none are internationally recognized as the standard of care. An acceptable treatment could include:
- Dialysis (the number of sessions may be increased)
- Intensive wound care
- Clot-dissolving agents (tissue plasminogen activator)
- Hyperbaric oxygen
- Maggot larval debridement
- Adequate pain control
- Correction of the underlying plasma calcium and phosphorus abnormalities (lowering the Ca x P product below 55 mg2/dL2)
- Sodium thiosulfate
- Avoiding (further) local tissue trauma (including avoiding all subcutaneous injections, and all not-absolutely-necessary infusions and transfusions)
- Urgent parathyroidectomy: The efficacy of this measure remains uncertain although calciphylaxis is associated with frank hyperparathyroidism. Urgent parathyroidectomy may benefit those patients who have uncontrollable plasma calcium and phosphorus concentrations despite dialysis. Also, cinacalcet can be used and may serve as an alternative to parathyroidectomy.
- Patients who receive kidney transplants also receive immunosuppression. Considering lowering the dose of or discontinuing the use of immunosuppressive drugs in people who have received kidney transplants and continue to have persistent or progressive calciphylactic skin lesions can contribute to an acceptable treatment of calciphylaxis.
- A group has reported plasma exchange effective and propose a serum marker and perhaps mediator (calciprotein particles)
The ideal treatment for IgAN would remove IgA from the glomerulus and prevent further IgA deposition. This goal still remains a remote prospect. There are a few additional caveats that have to be considered while treating IgA nephropathy. IgA nephropathy has a very variable course, ranging from a benign recurrent hematuria up to a rapid progression to chronic kidney failure. Hence the decision on which patients to treat should be based on the prognostic factors and the risk of progression. Also, IgA nephropathy recurs in transplants despite the use of ciclosporin, azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil and steroids in these patients. There are persisting uncertainties, due to the limited number of patients included in the few controlled randomized studies performed to date, which hardly produce statistically significant evidence regarding the heterogeneity of IgA nephropathy patients, the diversity of study treatment protocols, and the length of follow-up.
Patients with isolated hematuria, proteinuria < 1 g/day and normal renal function have a benign course and are generally just followed up annually. In cases where tonsillitis is the precipitating factor for episodic hematuria, tonsillectomy has been claimed to reduce the frequency of those episodes. However, it does not reduce the incidence of progressive kidney failure. Also, the natural history of the disease is such that episodes of frank hematuria reduce over time, independent of any specific treatment. Similarly, prophylactic antibiotics have not been proven to be beneficial. Dietary gluten restriction, used to reduce mucosal antigen challenge, also has not been shown to preserve kidney function. Phenytoin has also been tried without any benefit.
A subset of IgA nephropathy patients, who have minimal change disease on light microscopy and clinically have nephrotic syndrome, show an exquisite response to steroids, behaving more or less like minimal change disease. In other patients, the evidence for steroids is not compelling. Short courses of high dose steroids have been proven to lack benefit. However, in patients with preserved renal function and proteinuria (1-3.5 g/day), a recent prospective study has shown that 6 months regimen of steroids may lessen proteinuria and preserve renal function. However, the risks of long-term steroid use have to be weighed in such cases. It should be noted that the study had 10 years of patient follow-up data, and did show a benefit for steroid therapy; there was a lower chance of reaching end-stage renal disease (renal function so poor that dialysis was required) in the steroid group. Importantly, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were used in both groups equally.
Cyclophosphamide had been used in combination with anti-platelet/anticoagulants in unselected IgA nephropathy patients with conflicting results. Also, the side effect profile of this drug, including long term risk of malignancy and sterility, made it an unfavorable choice for use in young adults. However, one recent study, in a carefully selected high risk population of patients with declining GFR, showed that a combination of steroids and cyclophosphamide for the initial 3 months followed by azathioprine for a minimum of 2 years resulted in a significant preservation of renal function. Other agents such as mycophenolate mofetil, ciclosporin and mizoribine have also been tried with varying results.
A study from Mayo Clinic did show that long term treatment with omega-3 fatty acids results in reduction of progression to kidney failure, without, however, reducing proteinuria in a subset of patients with high risk of worsening kidney function. However, these results have not been reproduced by other study groups and in two subsequent meta-analyses. However, fish oil therapy does not have the drawbacks of immunosuppressive therapy. Also, apart from its unpleasant taste and abdominal discomfort, it is relatively safe to consume.
The events that tend to progressive kidney failure are not unique to IgA nephropathy and non-specific measures to reduce the same would be equally useful. These include low-protein diet and optimal control of blood pressure. The choice of the antihypertensive agent is open as long as the blood pressure is controlled to desired level. However, Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and Angiotensin II receptor antagonists are favoured due to their anti-proteinuric effect.
Many individuals have mild symptoms, which recur infrequently, while others may have persistent problems that become debilitating or life-threatening.
The first line treatment for polymyositis is corticosteroids. Specialized exercise therapy may supplement treatment to enhance quality of life.
Lupus is a condition with no known cure. Lupus cerebritis however is treated by suppressing the autoimmune activity.
When it is caused by infections, treatment consists of medication that will primarily cure the infection. For inflammation, steroids can be used to bring down the swelling. If the swelling appears to have increased to a dangerous level, surgery may be needed to relieve pressure on the brain. The formation of an abscess also calls for surgery as it will be necessary to drain the abscess.
Treatment includes supportive care with analgesics and anti-inflammatory agents. Exercise should be limited as it increases pain and extends the area of infarction. Symptoms usually resolve in weeks to months, but fifty percent of sufferers will experience relapse in either leg.