In adults with ischemic stroke or TIA and diagnosis of giant cell arteritis or Takayasu arteritis, a slow taper of oral steroids to a target of 5 mg/d after 1 year is reasonable in light of reports of exacerbation after rapid steroid withdrawal.690,709 3. Primary CNS angiitis or vasculitis is a rare cause of stroke (2.4 cases per 1 million patient-years),691 and it affects predominantly younger populations (mean age at presentation, 45 years) and is slightly more prevalent in men.692 In cases with confirmed primary CNS angiitis, administration of high-dose steroids is supported by observational data.693,694 In most cases, slow tapering of steroids followed by the addition of a steroid-sparing agent seems pre- ferred over long-term monotherapy with steroids because of a higher rate of relapse and poorer outcomes with steroid monotherapy.694,695 Some commonly used maintenance steroid-sparing agents include cyclophosphamide,693,694,696 aza- meth- There are no robust data related to efficacy between these agents. Therefore, we recommend an interdisciplinary fol- low-up for patient with primary CNS angiitis and that the choice of steroid-sparing agent be made considering the profile of each agent and associ- ated comorbidities. 4. Infliximab should not be used to treat patients with stroke and giant cell arteritis. This recommendation is based on a phase II clinical trial that random- ized patients with giant cell arteritis to infliximab (5 mg/kg body weight) versus placebo after steroid- induced remission. During follow-up, patients who received infliximab had a higher risk of disease activity at 12 weeks (eg, lower chances of remis- sion) than those who received placebo.697 5.13.2. Infectious Vasculitis Recommendations for Infectious Vasculitis Referenced studies that support recommendations are summarized in online Data Supplement 51. 