Birmingham vasculitis activity score at diagnosis is a significant predictor of relapse of polyarteritis nodosa

The objective of this study was to investigate whether clinical and laboratory data, Birmingham vasculitis activity score (BVAS) and five factor scores (FFS) at diagnosis could predict relapse in 30 patients with polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) having the follow-up duration for over 12 months. We reviewed the medical charts of 30 patients with PAN. We obtained clinical and laboratory data at diagnosis, and we compared them between the two groups based on relapse. The optimal cut-off values of BVAS and FFS (1996) at diagnosis to predict relapse were extrapolated. The mean age of patients (15 men) was 50.8 years, and the mean follow-up duration was 64.1 months. Nine patients (30.0%) had experience relapse after remission. Patients having relapse showed the higher frequency of weight loss and ocular symptoms and the less frequency of diastolic hypertension than those having not ( p