Rituximab therapy for chronic periaortitis

In a recent report, one patient with periaortitis secondary to IgG4-related systemic disease was successfully treated with rituximab, although the response of the retroperitoneal mass was not described. 8 Rituximab is increasingly used in different autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitides. 9 CP is also thought to have an autoimmune background, given its association with autoimmune diseases 6 10 and with the autoimmunity-predisposing HLA-DRB1*03 allele. 11 The efficacy of rituximab also suggests a crucial pathogenetic role for B cells in CP. [...]rituximab may be effective in CP.