Vasculitis & polymyalgia rheumatica
Giant cell arteritis in clinical practice: beyond GiACTA
Authors' conclusion
GCs represent a cornerstone in GCA therapy, but their cumulative dose correlates with induced damage, as quantified by the GTI. TCZ demonstrated steroid-sparing effect and clinical efficacy in a large real-life cohort.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with a new diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) made in the authors' centremedian follow-up 21 (11–39) months
- Participants
- 150 patients
- Exposure
- Glucocorticoids (GCs) plus tocilizumab (TCZ) vs GCs plus methotrexate (MTX) vs GCs alone
- Outcome
- GC side effects and steroid-sparing efficacy of TCZ and MTX, assessed with the Glucocorticoid Toxicity Index (GTI) version 2.0
- Follow-up
- 5-year follow-up
Methodological detailssingle-centre, real-life cohort
- Single-centre
- Real-life cohort
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
At least one GC side effect, whole cohort
88%
First-line TCZ reduced GC dose vs GCs alone
25%
Side effects, TCZ vs GCs alone
65% vs. 90%
GCA relapses, TCZ vs GCs alone
0% vs. 38%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Giant cell arteritis in clinical practice: beyond GiACTA. Clin Exp Rheumatol. Published 11 June 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →