BVAS version 3 and BVAS/GPA: standing on the same line?

• Published in: Clinical rheumatology 2022-11, Vol.41 (11), p.3429-3437
• Main Authors: Ahn, Sung Soo, Ha, Jang Woo, Park, Yong-Beom, Lee, Sang-Won
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antigens; Clinical outcomes; Discordance; End-stage renal disease; Granulomatosis; Hospitals; Inflammatory diseases; Internal medicine; Kidney diseases; Laboratories; Leukocytes (neutrophilic); Medical prognosis; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mortality; Neutrophils; Original Article; Patients; Rheumatology; Software; University colleges; Vasculitis; Vein & artery diseases
• ISSN: 0770-3198; 1434-9949
• DOI: 10.1007/s10067-022-06267-z

Introduction/objectives Birmingham vasculitis activity score (BVAS) version 3 (BVAS 3.0) and BVAS/granulomatosis with polyangiitis (BVAS/GPA) are used as indicators of disease activity in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. We evaluated the association between these indices and the significance in patients with GPA and microscopic polyangiitis (GPA/MPA). Methods We retrospectively reviewed the records of 203 patients with GPA/MPA in our hospital. The correlation between BVAS 3.0 and BVAS/GPA with the five-factor score (FFS) and laboratory data was investigated. The episodes of all-cause mortality, end-stage renal disease, and disease relapse were counted as adverse clinical outcomes. Multivariate Cox hazard analyses were performed to assess the relationships between both indices and patient outcomes. Results Sixty-five (32.0%) and 138 (68.0%) patients with GPA and MPA were included. The median BVAS 3.0 was significantly higher in patients with MPA than in those with GPA (13.0 vs. 11.0, p  = 0.015), whereas BVAS/GPA was higher in patients with GPA (4.0 vs. 3.0, p  = 0.001). BVAS 3.0 and BVAS/GPA correlated significantly ( r  = 0.670, p