ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2021
Use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography to monitor tocilizumab effect on vascular inflammation in giant cell arteritis.
Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treat-to-target recommendations in giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The RECOVERY trial: cardiovascular implications of a large, simple randomized trial in COVID-19.Cardiovascular research · 2021Trial
- Treatment strategies in giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica: beyond glucocorticoids.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Review
- Article
- Imaging-guided stratification in giant cell arteritis: prognostic and therapeutic implications.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2026Review
- The Role of FDG-PET in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Large-Vessel Vasculitis.Current rheumatology reports · 2025Review
- The Role of Imaging in Monitoring Large Vessel Vasculitis: A Comprehensive Review.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Immediate versus gradual TocilizuBMJ open · 2025Article
- Longitudinal changes on cranial magnetic resonance imaging in relapsing giant cell arteritis.Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism · 2025Article
- Ocular Manifestations of Giant Cell Arteritis.Advances in ophthalmology and optometry · 2025Article
- Emerging PET radiotracers for vascular imaging.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Review
- Use ofACR open rheumatology · 2025Article
- Does tocilizumab eliminate inflammation in GCA? A cohort study on repeated temporal artery biopsies.RMD open · 2024Article
- Improvement in joint inflammation is accompanied by reduction in arterial inflammation: Tocilizumab in rheumatoid arthritis.Journal of nuclear cardiology : official publication of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology · 2024Article
- Treatment of giant cell arteritis with ultra-short glucocorticoids and tocilizumab: the role of imaging in a prospective observational study.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2024Observational
- An overview of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in giant cell arteritis.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Review
- Intravenous versus subcutaneous tocilizumab in Takayasu arteritis: multicentre retrospective study.RMD open · 2023Article
- Effectiveness of a two-year tapered course of tocilizumab in patients with giant cell arteritis: A single-centre prospective study.Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo evaluate the time-dependent effects of tocilizumab on vascular inflammation as measured by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in GCA.
methodsPatients with GCA treated with tocilizumab were selected from a prospective, observational cohort. Patients underwent FDG-PET at the baseline visit prior to initiation of tocilizumab and at subsequent follow-up visits performed at 6-month intervals. All imaging findings were interpreted blinded to clinical data. The PET vascular activity score (PETVAS) was used to quantify arterial FDG uptake. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare change in PETVAS between visits. Linear regression was used to determine change in PETVAS over multiple timepoints.
resultsTwenty-five patients with GCA were included. All patients had physician-determined active vasculitis at the baseline visit by clinical assessment and FDG-PET interpretation. PETVAS was significantly reduced in association with tocilizumab treatment from the baseline to the most recent follow-up visit [24.0 (IQR 22.3-27.0) vs 18.5 (IQR 15.3-23.8); P <0.01]. A significant reduction in PETVAS was observed over a two-year treatment period (P <0.01 for linear trend), with a similar degree of improvement in both the first and second years of treatment. Repeat FDG-PET scans after tocilizumab discontinuation showed worsening PET activity in five out of six patients, with two patients subsequently experiencing clinical relapse.
conclusionTreatment of patients with GCA with tocilizumab was associated with both clinical improvement and reduction of vascular inflammation as measured by serial FDG-PET. Future clinical trials in GCA should study direct treatment effect on vascular inflammation as an outcome measure.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.