P293 Tocilizumab for refractory or relapsing giant cell arteritis: audit data from the Bristol and Bath regional multidisciplinary meetings 2018-2021
Authors: Jayatilleke Chandrin , Janagan Shalini , Marshall Robert , Skeoch Sarah , Guly Catherine M , Sin Fang En , Sweedan Laith AL , Anilkumar Aishwarya , Austin Keziah , Bourn Alexandra , Clarke Lynsey , Gunawardena Harsha , Johnson Ah , Knights Sally , Pauling John D , Reilly Elizabeth , Reynolds Timothy D , Villar Sarah , Robson Joanna C 
Published: April 2022

Background/Aims

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic vasculitis involving large and medium-sized blood vessels. Patients can present with cranial, ocular or large vessel (LVV-GCA) involvement. Treatment is with high dose glucocorticoids. Steroid-sparing agents and tocilizumab (TCZ) are used for refractory or relapsing cases. NHS England requires all GCA patients to be discussed in a regional multidisciplinary team meeting (MDT) prior to commencing TCZ. We reviewed the case mixture of patients referred to the Bristol and Bath regional MDT.

Methods

The Bristol and Bath regional MDT started in November 2018 and runs monthly. A referral proforma was designed, adapted from the NHS England Blueteq approval form for TCZ in GCA (definitions of refractory and relapsing disease), with tick boxes for clinical features, investigations, treatment, glucocorticoid adverse events and a free text clinical vignette. All referral proformas were reviewed.

Results

Audit data from all cases referred, between November 2018 and September 2021, were analysed. 38 cases of GCA were discussed with 31 cases approved for TCZ usage. Of the approved, 100% fulfilled the criteria for either refractory (n = 11) or relapsing (n = 20) disease. Mean age of approved cases was 74 years with three quarters being female (74.2%). Average disease duration was 161.5 days for the refractory group and 827.3 days for the relapsing group. Over three quarters of cases (77.4%) had cranial GCA, 48.4% had LVV-GCA, 45.2% had visual symptoms (reduction in visual acuity, blurring or diplopia) and 25.8% had ischaemic visual loss. The positive investigations were PET-CT (48.4%), temporal artery ultrasound (41.9%) and temporal artery biopsy (32.3%). Almost two-thirds (64.5%) had previously had a steroid-sparing agent (61.3 % methotrexate, 9.7% azathioprine, 6.5% leflunomide), one third (35.5%) had received intravenous methylprednisolone and more than half (58%) were receiving greater than 40mg prednisolone at the time of referral. Common glucocorticoid adverse effects (each seen in 19.4% of cases) included osteoporosis, weight gain, cataracts or hypertension, whilst diabetes, neuropsychiatric symptoms or sleep disturbance were each reported in 16.1% of cases. The majority of patients with ocular involvement had cranial symptoms (71%). Patients with ocular involvement tended to be referred earlier than those with no ocular involvement (478.2 days vs 648.1 days), were on a higher dose of glucocorticoids at time of referral (71.4% vs 47.1% on more than 40mg) and had fewer steroid-sparing agents prior to referral.

Conclusion

All patients approved for TCZ in the GCA MDT fulfilled NHS England criteria for either relapsing or refractory disease. The majority of cases had cranial disease, but almost half had either ocular or large vessel vasculitis involvement, reflecting a severe spectrum of disease. Cases showed a high burden of glucocorticoid toxicity. Patients with ocular involvement were referred slightly earlier with less use of other steroid sparing treatments prior to TCZ in our cohort.

Disclosure

C. Jayatilleke: None. S. Janagan: None. R. Marshall: Other; Has received sponsorship from UCB Pharma to attend educational conferences in the last 2 years. S. Skeoch: None. C.M. Guly: None. F. En Sin: None. L. AL Sweedan: None. A. Anilkumar: None. K. Austin: None. A. Bourn: None. L. Clarke: None. H. Gunawardena: None. A. Johnson: None. S. Knights: None. J.D. Pauling: None. E. Reilly: None. T.D. Reynolds: None. S. Villar: None. J.C. Robson: None.