Improved Hearing Impairment of Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis Treated with Rituximab and Avacopan without Glucocorticoids

Abstract

A 78-year-old woman with a history of intractable otitis media presented with a fever, hearing impairment, thigh pain, and a skin rash. She had renal dysfunction, positive myeloperoxidase-antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody, otitis media, and multiple nodules in both lungs. She was diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis, crescentic glomerulonephritis, and interstitial nephritis, which was confirmed in a kidney biopsy specimen. Induction therapy with rituximab and avacopan without glucocorticoids promptly resolved her fever and thigh pain and improved her auditory acuity and nodule in the right lung. The patient experienced no adverse effects with rituximab or avacopan.