TABLE 1:
Study Population Characteristics at the Baseline Visit
| TAK n = 38 |
GCA n = 32 |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years, IQR) | 29.5 (18.4–39.5) | 70.5 (61.1–75.9) | <0.01 |
| Gender (n, % female) | 30 (79%) | 23 (72%) | 0.49 |
| Disease duration (years, IQR) | 2.2 (0.6–5.5) | 0.7 (0.1–2.6) | <0.01 |
| Clinical disease activity (n, % active) | 17 (45%) | 20 (63%) | 0.14 |
| Temporal artery biopsy positivea
LV-GCA (angiographic involvementb) Both |
N/A | 14 (44%) 11 (34%) 7 (22%) |
N/A |
| Acute phase reactants ESR (mm/h, IQR) CRP (mg/L, IQR) |
18.5 (11–34) 3.8 (0.9–14) |
19 (9–26) 6.3 (1–11) |
0.81 0.58 |
| Type of angiography MRA CTA |
35 (92%) 3 (8%) |
29 (91%) 3 (9%) |
1.0 |
| Treatment Prednisone (mg/day, IQR) Other immune therapy Conventional DMARD Biologic DMARD |
5 (0–10) 26 (70%) 22 (85%) 11 (42%) |
7.5 (0–34) 16 (50%) 11 (69%) 3 (19%) |
0.21 0.08 0.27 0.17 |
a
26 of 32 patients (81%) with GCA underwent temporal artery biopsy
b
All patients underwent MRA or CTA at time of baseline FDG-PET scan. LV-GCA was defined as stenosis, occlusion, or aneurysm of large arteries on MRA or CTA
TAK=Takayasu’s arteritis; GCA=giant cell arteritis; IQR=interquartile range; LV=large-vessel; ESR=erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP=C-reactive protein; MRA=magnetic resonance angiography; CTA=computed tomography angiography; DMARD=disease-modifying antirheumatic drug