Table 3.
Glucocorticoids for giant cell arteritis since diagnosis.
| Glucocorticoids (GCs) | Number of analyzed patients | Incident disease*(N = 39) | Prevalent disease* | All patients (N = 306) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No relapse (N = 145) | ≥1 relapse (N = 122) | Total (N = 267) | ||||
| Number of GC courses, n (%) | 306 | |||||
| 1 | 39 (100.0) | 142 (97.9) | 94 (77.0) | 236 (88.4) | 275 (89.9) | |
| 2 | 0 (0.0) | 3 (2.1) | 26 (21.3) | 29 (10.9) | 29 (9.5) | |
| 3 | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (1.6) | 2 (0.7) | 2 (0.7) | |
| GC course duration (months), median (IQR) | 306 | 1.00 (0.00–1.00) | 10.00 (4.00–16.00) | 20.00 (11.50–32.50) | 14.00 (7.00–25.00) | 12.50 (5.00–23.00) |
| Ongoing treatment with GCs at study visit (mg), n (%) | 306 | 39 (100.0) | 131 (90.3) | 103 (84.4) | 234 (87.6) | 273 (89.2) |
| Current dose of GCs at study visit (mg), median (IQR) | 273 | 40.00 (30.00–50.00) | 9.00 (5.00–15.00) | 8.00 (5.00–12.00) | 9.00 (5.00–15.00) | 9.00 (5.00–20.00) |
| Total cumulative oral dose of GCs (mg), median (IQR) | 87 | 1080.00 (660.00–1800.00) |
4350.00 (2580.00–5670.00) |
7400.00 (4867.00–9435.00) |
4985.00 (2838.00–7170.00) |
4305 (1920–7000) |
IQR, interquartile range.
*
Incident disease: diagnosis-to-visit interval <6 weeks; prevalent disease: diagnosis-to-visit interval ≥6 weeks.