What is a disease flare (relapse)?
A disease flare represents recurrence of inflammatory activity of the underlying vasculitis after a state of remission has been achieved with treatment. Usually disease flares are milder than the original disease presentation because the patient may still be on some immunosuppressive therapy that muffles the intensity of the inflammation or because symptoms get recognized faster by the patients and their physicians, and a renewed course of remission induction therapy is implemented earlier. Disease flares do not always occur in the same way as the disease originally presents. The rule of thumb is that the sooner a relapse occurs (the shorter the time of remission has been), the more likely the relapse will be similar to the original disease presentation. In contrast, relapses occurring after several years in stable, possibly drug-free remission have a higher likelihood to present differently and involve other organs than those originally afflicted. These patterns certainly do not alway
