What are the clinical implications for the updated classification criteria? They are a useful tool for rheumatology researchers because they reflect modern disease definitions and tests, said Richard Watts, honorary senior lecturer at Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. “These provisional criteria are clinically based, reflect current investigative practices and include ANCA, but they are not critically dependent on ANCA, nor on biopsy,” he said. “They provide a risk-based score rather than the old X-of-Y methodology, and have good specificity and sensitivity. They should be used for research purposes, but they will also improve the evidence base for decisions on therapy.”
Susan Bernstein is a freelance journalist based in Atlanta.
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References
- Leavitt RY, Fauci AS, Bloch DA, et al. The American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of Wegener’s granulomatosis. Arthritis Rheum. 1990 Aug;33(8):1101–1107.
- Jennette JC, Falk RJ, Bacon PA, et al. 2012 revised International Chapel Hill Consensus Conference nomenclature of vasculitides. Arthritis Rheum. Jan 2013;65(1):1–11.
