Active clinical trials for "Polymyalgia Rheumatica"

The study aims at measuring the sensitivity and specificity of a series of imaging signs (recorded by magnetic resonance angiography, vascular tomodensitometry, vascular ultrasonography, retina angiography and retina optic coherence tomography) for the diagnosis of Horton disease, the gold standard being the result of temporal artery biopsy.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a medium to large vessel vasculitis with a predilection for the superficial cranial and intrathoracic arteries. Diagnosing the condition and predicting which patients will develop large vessel complications remains a challenge. There are limitations with temporal artery biopsy, magnetic resonance angiography and ultrasound of temporal arteries and American College of Rheumatology classification criteria. Positron emission tomography (PET) has been shown to be a useful modality in detecting inflammation in large intra-thoracic vessels but previously has not been able to accurately detect FDG uptake in the superficial cranial arteries due to poor spatial resolution. Newer scanners can perform finer cuts of the head and can detect uptake in these arteries. This study has three main components: Cross sectional study assessing the accuracy of PET uptake in the superficial cranial and intrathoracic arteries of suspected GCA patients for the diagnosis of GCA Cohort study assessing the prognostic implication of FDG aortic uptake on aortic diameter at 24 months Cohort study assessing the Th1 and Th17 cytokine profile in patients with and without FDG PET uptake at 0, 6 and 24 months

A cross-sectional study design and online questionnaire was used to assess the informational needs of patients with several different types of systemic vasculitis. Patients were recruited from within the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium (VCRC) online Patient Contact Registry1. Survey responses from participants in the VCRC Patient Contact Registry were compared to responses from a similar survey recently administered to patients within a United Kingdom (UK) based vasculitis support group (Vasculitis UK).

The purpose of this study is to provide validation of patient-reported data in the VCRC Patient Contact Registry by comparing patient-reported data with data provided by the physician who is the primary provider caring for the patient's vasculitis. Patients enrolled in the Patient Contact Registry with Behcet's disease, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss) (EGPA), giant cell arteritis (GCA), granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), and Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) were invited via email to participate in this study.

This case control study aims to determine whether spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is associated with autoimmune diseases and to update the incidence of SCAD in a population-based cohort.

Temporal artery biopsy is a useful tool helping to the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis. However, other diagnoses might be associated with abnormal temporal artery biopsy. The purpose of this study is to describe the frequency of giant cell arteritis differential diagnoses with positive temporal artery biopsy.

The aim of this open, controlled, multicentre biomedical research study is to identify new markers specifically associated with Horton's disease. This would make it possible to improve the diagnosis and management of this disease. Participation consists in taking one or several blood samples depending on the group patients/controls.

This study series consists of four related studies and aims to explore and describe many important elements of alopecia areata over three key areas: (1) the current epidemiology of alopecia areata, (2) the prevalence and incidence of psychiatric co-morbidities in people with alopecia areata, (3) the prevalence and incidence of autoimmune and atopic conditions in people with alopecia areata, and (4) the incidence of common infections in people with alopecia areata.

The purpose of this study is to learn about how patients with vasculitis think about their illness and to assess to what extent patient perceptions of illness are associated with physical, mental, and social functioning

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common vasculitis in adults. The diagnosis of GCA is evoked by the association of clinical signs and biological anomalies (inflammatory syndrome) in patients over 50 years of age. On the other hand, starting a treatment implies being certain of the diagnosis which requires performing a temporal artery biopsy under local anesthesia. This examination is therefore an invasive procedure for patients whose sensitivity is not optimal. This is why imaging techniques (echo-Doppler or MRI of the temporal arteries) have been developed to look for signs of vasculitis without the need to perform a biopsy. However, these examinations lack sensitivity (=falsely concluding the absence of GCA) and specificity (=falsely concluding the presence of GCA). Recently, advances in imaging, and in particular positron emission tomography (PET), have made it possible to visualize the cephalic arteries, including the temporal artery. The aim of this study is therefore to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of PET of the cephalic arteries for the diagnosis of GCA and to compare them with those of echo-Doppler and MRI of the temporal arteries.