Background/Objective The epidemiology of vasculitis is variable in different geographic areas, and this issue has not been approached in Brazil yet. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of vasculitis in specialized centers in Brazil. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed in 9 vasculitis outpatient clinics from 6 different states mainly from the Southeast and the Northeast regions of Brazil between 2015 and 2017. Diagnosis and/or classification criteria for Behçet disease (BD), Takayasu arteritis (TA), giant cell arteritis (GCA), polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), and cryoglobulinemic vasculitis (CryoVas) were used to include patients with at least 6 months of follow-up in this hospital-based survey. Results A total of 1233 patients with systemic vasculitis were included from the Southeast region. Behçet disease was the most frequent vasculitis (35.0%) followed by TA (26.4%), GPA (16.2%), PAN (5.8%), GCA (5.8%), EGPA (4.3%), MPA (3.4%), and CryoVas (3.0%). Up to 7.8% of vasculitis patients had a juvenile onset, and the frequency of vasculitides found in children and adolescents was as follows: TA (52.6%), BD (24.7%), GPA (12.4%), and PAN (10.3%). No cases of EGPA, MPA, and CryoVas were diagnosed before the age of 18 years. As a comparator, 103 vasculitis patients were included in the Northeast of Brazil where TA was found in 36.9% and BD in 31.1% of vasculitis cases. No GCA cases were found in the Northeast part of Brazil. Conclusions Similar to the epidemiology of vasculitis in Asia, BD and TA are the most frequent vasculitis in Southeastern Brazilian referral centers.

Background: Epidemiological studies have shown an increased prevalence of high blood pressure in pediatric patients. Today we know that risk factors can be detected during childhood and may help in preventing the disease.

Objective To evaluate key factors for Presenteeism and Activity impairment in multinational patients with Behçet’s syndrome (BS) and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). Methods In this cross-sectional study, 364 BS patients from Jordan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Turkey and 143 RAS patients from the United Kingdom and Turkey were included. Work Productivity Activity Impairment (WPAI) scale was used for Presenteeism and Activity impairment. Mediation analyses were performed to evaluate both direct and indirect causal effects. Results Presenteeism score was higher in active patients with genital ulcers and eye involvement as well as patients with comorbidities and current smokers than the others in BS (p< 0.05). In RAS, Presenteeism score was elevated by oral ulcer activity in the direct path (p= 0.0073) and long disease duration as a mediator in the indirect path (p= 0.0191). Patients with active joint involvement had poor scores in Absenteeism, Presenteeism, Overall impairment and Activity impairment compared with those of inactive patients (p < 0.05). Using mediation analysis, the Activity impairment score was directly mediated by joint activity (p = 0.0001) and indirectly mediated through oral ulcer-related pain in BS (p = 0.0309). Conclusion In BS, Presenteeism was associated with disease activity, presence of comorbidities and being a current smoker, whereas in RAS, Presenteeism was associated with oral ulcer activity and increased length of the disease. Moreover, Activity impairment was adversely affected by joint activity and oral ulcer related pain in BS. Patients need to be empowered by using appropriate treatment strategies in their working environment and daily life.

No abstract

No abstract