News
Vasculitis group at the Great Exhibition Road Festival, 15-16 June 2024
The vasculitis research group led by Steve McAdoo and Maria Prendecki participated in this year’s Great Exhibition Road Festival, held on 15-16 June. We teamed up with artist and patient with vasculitis Shanali Perera to ignite the creative and artistic prowess of the public with the aim of “Vasculitis: Making the invisible visible”. Shanali’s art serves as a creative outlet for her diagnosis and at the event she showcased her artwork and led workshops with patients and the public allowing them to express and show off their artistic talents.
Led by clinical research fellow, Mukunthan Srikantharajah, the whole team of scientists, clinicians, and researchers came together to engage the public of all ages to express themselves through art while learning about different aspects of the human body, from the kidneys to life with a rare disease. The artwork created over the weekend will be combined and displayed in the vasculitis outpatient clinic, hopefully inspiring patients and clinicians to think about how we can make illness visible through art or use art as therapy.
21st International Vasculitis Workshop 7-10 April 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.
The 21st International Vasculitis Workshop took place in Barcelona on 7-10th April 20241. The conference had a wide scope including a focus on important advances in the treatment of vasculitis, cellular and molecular mechanisms of disease, clinical outcomes and biomarkers of disease activity. A large group of early career researchers from various disciplines from the Imperial Vasculitis Centre of Excellence attended to share their work, meet colleagues from around the world and learn about the latest advances in the pathogenesis and management of vasculitis. They were supported by Dr Stephen McAdoo, Dr Maria Prendecki, Dr Taryn Youngstein and Prof Charles Pusey.
Dr Amrita Dhutia, a Clinical Research Fellow (CRF) in Renal Medicine and MD(Res) student at Imperial College London, gave an oral presentation on the results of an observational study in a large cohort of patients with ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis (ANCA GN) at Imperial treated with avacopan in combination with rituximab and cyclophosphamide. The study evaluated the safety, glucocorticoid use, and renal recovery in this cohort of patients receiving a novel treatment regimen. She also presented work evaluating novel urinary biomarkers of active ANCA GN in clinical practice.
Dr Mukunthan Srikantharajah, a Renal CRF and MD(Res) student presented multiple posters on the following topics: the use of combination rituximab and low-dose cyclophosphamide for the treatment of severe EGPA; the addition of rituximab to plasma exchange, cyclophosphamide and steroids for the treatment of anti-GBM disease and a case presentation of anti-GBM disease in association with pembrolizumab. He also discussed his research projects in the trainee session.
Dr Guy Benshetrit, an ENT trainee, gave an oral presentation on a retrospective analysis of outcomes of patients with subglottic stenosis (SGS) under the combined airway-vasculitis service at Imperial. His study found a beneficial role for immunosuppression, as an adjunct to endoscopic and surgical treatment, in patients with SGS and positive ANCA serology (SGS-ANCA) and in idiopathic SGS.
Dr Joseph Winterton, a respiratory trainee, presented the respiratory and clinical outcomes of patients with myeloperoxidase-related interstitial lung disease (MPO-ILD) treated with systemic immunosuppression at Imperial. This is an area where there is a poor evidence base for therapeutic strategies to treat ILD progression in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV).
Dr Harold Wilson-Morkeh, a Rheumatology trainee, presented a case series of patients with lower limb large vessel vasculitis (LVV). Involvement of lower limb vessels in LVV is less frequently reported, and therefore it is important to raise awareness of this subtype of disease, as immunosuppression is necessary prior to surgical revascularisation.
SAVE THE DATE: EUVAS Course 2023
EUVAS Vasculitis Training Course
28 – 30 September 2023
Sankt Gallen – Switzerland
VENUE: Einstein Congress Hotel
COURSE OVERVIEW:
- Limited to 220 attendees
- Approx. 45 international speakers
- State-of-the-art lectures
- Hot topic lectures
- Clinical case discussions
- Plenary and parallel sessions