Efficacy of rituximab in severe and mild abdominal vasculitis in the course of mixed cryoglobulinemia

Abdominal vasculitis represents a rare, but life-threatening manifestation in mixed cryoglobulinemic syndrome (MCsn), despite aggressive immunosuppressive treatments. Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, rituximab (RTX) has already been used with good results in MC in preliminary studies. No data have been provided, however, on the efficacy of RTX in gastrointestinal involvement of MCsn. Herein, we report the favourable outcomes of the gastrointestinal manifestations in five patients treated with RTX, where the diagnosis of abdominal vasculitis was confirmed by histopathological findings in 2 out of 5 patients, while in the other three patients the diagnosis was made on the basis of positive endoscopy or by integrating clinical and laboratory data.