[Clinical Characteristics of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis in a respiratory diseases referral center in Mexico (1982-2010)].

Introduction: Respiratory manifestations in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AASV) are common, though their suspicion is lower than expected in respiratory devoted centers, with few descriptions coming from them.
Objective: To describe the clinical, paraclinical and radiological manifestations, plus the prognosis of AASV patients seen in a respiratory referral center in Mexico City.
Material and Methods: Retrospective review of patients with final diagnosis of AASV, based on the American College of Rheumatology criteria and the 1994 Chapel Hill Consensus Conference Nomenclature, from 1982 to 2010.
Results: The characteristics of 74 granulomatosis with polyangiitis, 10 microscopic polyangiitis, and six eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis cases are described. Mean time elapsed from initial suspicion to definitive diagnosis was 30 months. As expected, respiratory findings dominated this cohort, but no significant differences were observed when compared to other series with AAS\1, except for a higher frequency of subglottic stenosis. After a mean follow-up of 22 months, 83% of patients were alive, with remission being achieved in 87% and response in 9%. Seven patients died, mostly from infectious complications.
Conclusion: This study documents that airway manifestations in Mexican patients with AASV are similar to what has been previously described. However, time to diagnosis is long. Respiratory specialists should be more aware of the modes of presentation in AASV patients in order to facilitate their recognition.