BVAS and VDI: The Gold Standard Tools for Measuring Systemic Vasculitis Activity and Damage

28th November 2023

Now available to licence through Oxford University Innovation’s Clinical Outcomes team.

The continuing morbidity of patients with systemic vasculitis, despite the improved prognosis with aggressive therapy, underlines the need for accurate disease assessment.

The Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS v.3) and Vasculitis Damage Index (VDI) are the most widely used and validated tools for assessing disease activity and damage in patients with systemic vasculitis. They have been developed by leading experts in the field and have been adopted by many research groups and clinical trials worldwide. BVAS and VDI allow for accurate and consistent evaluation of vasculitis across different organ systems, treatment regimens, and outcomes. BVAS and VDI are the essential tools for anyone involved in the diagnosis, management, and research of vasculitis.

The BVAS

The BVAS assess disease activity, flare, remission and the chronic effects of systemic vasculitis. The methods are practical and clinically based to enable standardized measurements of disease status, which consist of measuring:

·         Current disease activity

·         Recent disease activity that is not fully resolved

The VDI

The VDI consists of a list of findings grouped into 11 systems: musculoskeletal; skin/mucous membranes; ocular; ENT; pulmonary; cardiovascular; peripheral vascular disease; gastrointestinal; renal; neuropsychiatric and an additional section for additional damage items.

The “other” section includes gonadal failure, marrow failure, diabetes, chemical cystitis, malignancy, as well as the opportunity to document any other unlisted feature that can be considered as damage.

Training

The Luqmani Group have developed comprehensive case-study based training modules for the BVAS and VDI and facilitate the training online or in-person to ensure valid use in studies. They have developed a training website to deliver the case studies with automated feedback and have collaborated with academics and industrial partners to ensure quality control in disease evaluation.

 

For more information, please contact David Gray and Raashid Luqmani via bvasvdi@ndorms.ox.ac.uk.

 

Licensing or Queries

Anyone wishing to use the BVAS + VDI can submit a Licence application via our platform here. If you have any licensing queries or questions about using the BVAS or VDI, please contact us via email at healthoutcomes@innovation.ox.ac.uk.

 

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