Patients enrolled received intravenous infusions of TCZ (8 mg/kg) at inclusion and then every 4 weeks for at least 3 months. Demographic and clinical features, laboratory findings and imaging examinations were recorded at baseline and during 3-month follow-up. Imaging improvement was converted into the ratio of perivascular soft tissues shrinkage by evaluating 2 dimensions of greatest change on computed tomography (CT) at baseline and after 3 months. Partial remission was defined as obtaining alleviation of symptoms and normalization of inflammatory markers including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), with shrinkage of soft tissue mass in imaging <70%. Further, complete remission was defined as normalization of inflammatory markers accompanied by shrinkage of soft tissue mass ≥70%.
This is a prospective study to investigate the treatment response of Tocilizumab on patients with active chronic periaortitis (CP).~Methods: patients with a definite or possible diagnosis of CP at acute active stage were enrolled for this study and accepted Tocilizumab monotherapy for 3 months.~Endpoints: The primary endpoint is to investigate the treatment response of Tocilizumab; the secondary endpoints include the improvement of inflammatory markers, the frequency of adverse events.