A decade-spanning trial found that for patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, two common methods of treatment actually do not have an impact on their long-term survival. The study, called PEXIVAS, was co-led by Peter A. Merkel, MD, MPH, chief of Rheumatology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and was the largest ever conducted in vasculitis. It demonstrated that survival and progression to kidney failure (with the need for dialysis) for patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis remained virtually unchanged whether or not they underwent plasma exchange or if they took approximately half the typically prescribed dosage of oral glucocorticoids—which are commonly referred to as “steroids.” The study was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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