Table 2.
Baseline characteristics and details of treatment regimen in 346 children receiving 1149 courses of rituximab
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| Baseline characteristics of patients (n=346) | |
| Sex, n (%) | |
| Female | 93 (26.9) |
| Male | 253 (73.1) |
| Race and ethnicity, n (%) | |
| White | 138 (39.9) |
| East Asian | 124 (35.8) |
| South Asian | 36 (10.4) |
| Black | 22 (6.4) |
| Others | 26 (7.5) |
| Age at presentation (yr), median (IQR) | 3.1 (2.2–4.8) |
| Age at first rituximab treatment (yr), median (IQR) | 9.8 (6.6–13.5) |
| Disease severity, n (%) | |
| Multidrug dependence | 276 (79.8) |
| Steroid dependence with or without frequent relapsing | 64 (18.5) |
| Frequent relapsing alone | 6 (1.7) |
| History of steroid resistance, n (%) | 72 (20.8) |
| Initial steroid resistance | 28 (8.1) |
| Late steroid resistance | 44 (12.7) |
| Renal biopsy, n (%) | 246 (71.1) |
| Minimal change disease | 169 (68.7) |
| Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis | 58 (23.6) |
| Othersa | 19 (7.7) |
| Previous immunosuppression, n (%) | |
| CNI | 297 (85.8) |
| MMF | 172 (49.7) |
| Cyclophosphamide | 153 (44.2) |
| Levamisole | 51 (14.7) |
| Others | 58 (16.8) |
| Number of steroid-sparing agents before rituximab, n (%) | |
| 0 | 18 (5.2) |
| 1 | 86 (24.9) |
| 2 | 114 (32.9) |
| 3 | 97 (28.0) |
| 4 | 29 (8.4) |
| ≥5 | 2 (0.6) |
| Cumulative rituximab dose at last follow-up (mg/m2), median (IQR) | 1500 (1125–2625) |
| Treatment regimen: rituximab course (n=1149) | |
| Rituximab dose (per course), n (%) | |
| Low (375 mg/m2) | 746 (64.9) |
| Medium (750 mg/m2) | 230 (20.0) |
| High (1125–1500 mg/m2) | 173 (15.1) |
| Average dose per course (mg/m2), median (IQR) | 375 (375–750) |
| Use of immunosuppression after each rituximab treatment, n (%)b | 1070 (93.1) |
| Discontinuation within 6 months, n (%) | 495 (46.3) |
| Duration (mo), median (IQR) | 2.0 (1.5–3.4) |
| Any immunosuppression ≥6 months, n (%) | 574 (53.6) |
| Duration (mo), median (IQR) | 13.0 (8.8–21.4) |
| Type of immunosuppression used after each course of rituximab | |
| Corticosteroid, n (%)c | 971 (84.5) |
| Duration (mo), median (IQR) | 2.3 (1.5–6.0) |
| MMF, n (%) | 474 (41.3) |
| Duration (mo), median (IQR) | 11.7 (6.3–20.6) |
| CNI, n (%) | 455 (39.6) |
| Duration (mo), median (IQR) | 6.4 (3.0–11.9) |
| Indications for repeating rituximab treatment (n=803), n (%) | |
| Relapse | 665 (82.8) |
| B-cell repletion | 109 (13.6) |
| Prophylactic administrationd | 29 (3.6) |
a
Included idiopathic mesangial proliferative GN (n=11), IgM nephropathy (n=4), c1q nephropathy (n=3), and idiopathic glomerulosclerosis (n=1).
b
Two instances of missing data for the use of concomitant immunosuppression and one instance of missing data for the duration of immunosuppression use.
c
Corticosteroid included prednisolone and prednisone.
d
Rituximab was given prophylactically on the basis of previous clinical response (n=24), the presence of CNI-associated nephrotoxicity (n=4), and social reasons (n=1).