Table 3. Characteristics of patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis during flare visits stratified by increase or no increase in serum periostin compared to prior visit*.
| Increase N = 20 |
No Increase N = 23 |
P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Periostin level | 73 (56 to 87) | 52 (46 to 64) | < 0.01 |
| Change in periostin from prior visit | 14 (5 to 21) | -11 (-27 to -3) | < 0.01 |
| Blood eosinophil count, 109/L | 0.75 (0.19 to 1.39) | 0.25 (0.07 to 0.53) | 0.03 |
| Serum IgE level, mg/L | 37 (2 to 181) | 181 (34 to 277) | 0.16 |
| ESR, mm/hr | 6 (4 to 19) | 10 (4 to 25) | 0.42 |
| CRP, mg/L | 3 (0.5 to 5) | 1 (0.7 to 3) | 0.54 |
| BVAS | 4 (2 to 7) | 5 (2 to 8) | 0.75 |
| Physician Global Assessment Score | 3 (1 to 4) | 1 (0 to 2) | < 0.01 |
| New or worse symptoms at flare (from BVAS) | |||
| Ear, nose, throat | 65% | 40% | 0.10 |
| Lung | 65% | 60% | 0.72 |
| Nervous system | 4% | 5% | 0.92 |
| Skin | 4% | 15% | 0.23 |
| Cardiac | 4% | 0% | 0.35 |
| Kidney | 0% | 5% | 0.28 |
| Medications at time of flare | |||
| Any immunosuppressive | 87% | 100% | 0.24 |
| Systemic glucocorticoids | 76% | 89% | 0.30 |
| Cyclophosphamide | 0% | 5% | 0.28 |
| Rituximab | 4% | 11% | 0.44 |
| Azathioprine | 4% | 60% | < 0.01 |
| Methotrexate | 27% | 25% | 0.87 |
| Mycophenolate | 0% | 10% | 0.12 |
| Inhaled glucocorticoid | 52% | 81% | 0.07 |
Values expressed as median (IQR) or percentage
*6 patients did not have a preceding visit prior to the flare visit and were excluded from this analysis.
BVAS, Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score. CRP, C-reactive protein. ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate. IgE, immunoglobulin E.