THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF WEGENER GRANULOMATOSIS - ESTIMATES OF THE 5-YEAR PERIOD PREVALENCE, ANNUAL MORTALITY, AND GEOGRAPHIC DISEASE DISTRIBUTION FROM POPULATION-BASED DATA SOURCES

Objective. To estimate the prevalence, annual mortality, and geographi c distribution of Wegener's granulomatosis. Methods. Analysis of natio nal vital statistics data and hospitalization data from a national sur vey and from ail New York State inpatient facilities. Results. Between 1979 and 1988, 1,784 death certificates in the United States listed W egener's granulomatosis as a cause of death, Nationally, an estimated 10,771 hospitalizations included Wegener's granulomatosis among the di scharge diagnoses, In New York State, there were 978 hospitalizations among 571 individuals with Wegener's granulomatosis. Conclusion. The p revalence of Wegener's granulomatosis in the United States is approxim ately 3.0 per 100,000 persons, Clear differences in the geographic dis tribution of Wegener's granulomatosis are apparent when analyses consi der rates of disease in individual counties. Contrary to previous repo rts, associations between disease exacerbations and season were not ap parent.