TY - JOUR T1 - Can We Identify Patients with Microscopic Polyangiitis Who Are at Risk of Relapse? JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 455 LP - 457 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.111602 VL - 39 IS - 3 AU - RAASHID A. LUQMANI Y1 - 2012/03/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/39/3/455.abstract N2 - Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) is an uncommon but not rare form of antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated primary small-vessel vasculitis with a worldwide prevalence1. Conventional treatment is cyclophosphamide (CYC) and glucocorticoids, without which mortality is very high2. The usual clinical presentation is significant renal disease; untreated it will lead to endstage renal failure in many cases3.Early identification and treatment of MPA is important to prevent mortality but also in the hope of reducing longterm complications. Even with treatment, the vasculitides have a tendency to relapse3,4,5,6,7,8,9. The definition of relapse varies across studies, but this has been resolved to some extent by a consensus on conducting clinical trials in vasculitis10. Overall, the relapse rate can be up to 35% in ANCA-associated vasculitis, largely due to the very high rates of relapse in patients who have granulomatosis with polyangiitis (an extremely uncommon condition in Japan compared to Europe and North America1) but is reportedly much lower in MPA (around 8%11). By contrast, mortality, particularly for severe disease, is around 24%–27%12.In the current issue of The Journal, a group from Okayama, Japan, report on the risk factors associated with relapse13 in a retrospective study of a cohort … Address correspondence to Dr. Luqmani. E-mail: Raashid.luqmani{at}ndorms.ox.ac.uk ER -