Annals of internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Antiproteinase 3 antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and disease activity in Wegener granulomatosis.
The utility of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) levels to guide the management of patients with Wegener granulomatosis remains controversial. ⋯ Pro-PR3-ANCA is no better than mature-PR3-ANCA as a measure of Wegener granulomatosis activity. Decreases in PR3-ANCA levels are not associated with shorter time to remission, and increases are not associated with relapse. These findings suggest that ANCA levels cannot be used to guide immunosuppressive therapy.