Table 5.

Comparison of the therapeutic management of the two groups.

Variable	Non-relapsing patients n = 137 n/available data (%)	Relapsing patients n = 117 n/available data (%)	p value
Initial dose/weight of corticosteroids (mg/kg/day)a	0.8 ± 0.2 (0.7)	0.8 ± 0.2 (0.7)	0.66
Methylprednisolone infusions at diagnosis	27/135 (20.0%)	13/117 (11.1%)	0.06
Immunosuppressive drug at diagnosis	6/131 (4.6%)	2/115 (1.7%)	0.28
Platelet anti-aggregant at diagnosis	80/132 (60.6%)	64/115 (55.7%)	0.44
Statin at diagnosis	22/130 (16.9%)	31/116 (26.7%)	0.06
Conversion enzyme inhibitor at diagnosis	13/125 (10.4%)	17/113 (15.0%)	0.33
Prednisone dose at month 3 (mg/day)a	21.1 ± 11.9 (20)	23.1 ± 11.7 (20)	0.18
Prednisone dose at month 6 (mg/day)a	10.3 ± 7.3 (10)	13.1 ± 8.6 (10)	0.02*
Prednisone dose at month 12 (mg/day)a	4.8 ± 3.0 (5)	7.6 ± 6.7 (6)	0.0003*
Prednisone dose at month 18 (mg/day)a	2.7 ± 2.8 (2)	6.1 ± 7.0 (5)	0.0002*
Prednisone dose at month 24 (mg/day)a	1.6 ± 2.6 (0)	6.3 ± 8.1 (5)	<0.0001*
Prednisone dose >5 mg/day in the latest news	16/108 (14.8%)	21/96 (21.9%)	0.20
No corticosteroid in the latest news	63/107 (58.9%)	30/97 (30.9%)	<0.0001*
Mean delay between the beginning and the definitive discontinuation of corticosteroids (months)a	22.9 ± 20.3 (17)	42.5 ± 26.8 (34)	0.0005*
Use of an immunosuppressive drug during follow-up	8/115 (7.0%)	46/103 (44.7%)	<0.0001*
Delay between diagnosis and the use of an immunosuppressive drug (months)a	6.3 ± 13.6 (1)	14.5 ± 16.5 (8)	0.02*

^*Significant at p < 0.05.

^aMean ± σ (median).