Table 3.
Effect of rituximab (RTX) on disease activity, prednisolone dose and laboratory parameters
| Before RTX | After first RTX course | P a | Last follow-up | P b | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BVAS, median (range) | 9 (4–15) | 0.5 (0–6) | 0.002 | 0 (0–0) | 0.002 |
| Prednisolone dose (mg/day), median (range) | 10.0 (0–18) | 8.8 (0–20) | ns | 3.75 (0–15) | 0.003 |
| CRP, mg/l, median (range) | 6.0 (0.3–96) | 4.9 (0.3–53) | ns | 2.6 (0.3–9.2) | 0.01 |
| Remission, n (%) | 0 | 3 (25) | 11 (92) | ||
| Response, n (%) | 8 (67) | 1 (8) | |||
| No response, n (%) | 1 (8) | 0 (0) | |||
| Immunoglobulin levelsc | |||||
| IgG g/l, median (range) | 8.98 (5.4–15.1) | 6.81 (4.1–10.5) | |||
| Ig A g/l, median (range) | 1.85 (0.87–3.5) | 1.52 (0.78–3.3) | |||
| IgM g/l, median (range) | 0.81 (0.23–1.7) | 0.54 (0.2–1.3) | |||
BVAS Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score [22], ns non-significant
aComparison before RTX and after first RTX course
bComparison before RTX and at last follow-up
cMeasured at variable time points after the start of RTX, reference values: IgG, 6.7–14.5 g/l; IgA, 0.88–4.5 g/l; IgM, 0.27–2.1 g/l