Vasculitis

Vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood vessels. It happens when the body's immune system attacks the blood vessel by mistake. The cause is often unknown. Vasculitis can affect arteries, veins and capillaries. Arteries are vessels that carry blood from the heart to the body's organs. Veins are the vessels that carry blood back to the heart. Capillaries are tiny blood vessels that connect the small arteries and veins.

When a blood vessel becomes inflamed, it can

Narrow, making it more difficult for blood to get through
Close off completely so that blood can't get through
Stretch and weaken so much that it bulges and may burst and cause dangerous bleeding inside the body

Symptoms of vasculitis can vary, but usually include fever, swelling and a general sense of feeling ill. The main goal of treatment is to stop the inflammation. Steroids and other medicines to stop inflammation are often helpful.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Vasculitis on Wikipedia

In medicine, '''vasculitis''' (plural: ''vasculitides'') is a group of diseases featuring inflammation of the wall of blood vessels. Its main causes are autoimmune disorders and (occasionally) infections. Treatment depends on the cause. While most vasculitides are rare diseases, they generally affect several organ systems and can cause severe disability.

Diagnosis

The types of vasculitis are distinguished by the type of blood vessel affected (aorta, large artery, arterioles, Capillary and veins), the appearance of biopsy tissue of affected organs on light microscopy, and if necessary, with the help of immunohistochemistry (use of monoclonal antibody against specific inflammatory protein markers). Other diagnostic tools are the detection of circulating antibody that are associated with forms of vasculitis. While these measurements have a low positive predictive value and negative predictive value (due to the high rates of both false positives and false negatives), they can direct the clinician to specific causes for vasculitis.

Treatment

Infectious vasculitis is generally treated with directed antibiotics, while autoimmune disorder forms often require treatment with immune suppression: steroids, DMARDs ("steroid-sparing agents") or cyclophosphamide (a mild form of chemotherapy). For very severe forms, bone marrow transplantation is presently being investigated as the ultimate silencing of the immune system.

Causes and types

* Large vessel vasculitis ** Giant cell arteritis (also temporal arteritis) ** Takayasu's arteritis * Medium-sized vessel vasculitis ** Polyarteritis nodosa ** Kawasaki's disease ** Cerebral vasculitis (primary granulomatous) * Small-vessel vasculitis ** Associated with ANCAs (anti-neutrophil granulocyte ... [ Read More ]

External Resources

ANCA tests for vasculitis diagnostics by Utecht & Lüdemann GmbH - Utecht & Lüdemann is an original equipment manufacturer of testkits for vasculitis diagnostics (Anti-PR3 ELISA, Anti-MPO ELISA, ANCA blot) and of common immunoassay reagents. All products are distributed worldwide.

Sarcoidosis, Vasculitis and Diffuse Lung Diseases - The official journal of the World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders (WASOG). Includes information on sarcoidosis, the first annual conference, and details of the bi-yearly journal.

CNSV Network - A resource for people with Central Nervous System Vasculitis (CNSV), their families and the health care community

Lupus and Vasculitis - Vasculitits is an inflammation of the blood vessels. It can occur alone or in conjunction with other diseases. This page explains the relationship between Lupus and Vasculitis. Lots of good information, clear and well written.

Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center - A detailed look at thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's Disease). Some pictures of extremities where gangrene has developed.

Vasculitis - Noticias, resúmenes, noticias relacionadas, diagnósticos y síntomas,

Compromiso renal en LES y vasculitis - Descripción de la glomerulonefritis lúpica y cuadros clínicos y afecciones de las distintas vasculitis.

Chronische Inflammatoire Bindweefselziekten - CIB liga over Lupus, Sclerodermie, Poly- en Dermatomyositis, vasculitis, MCTD. met info, artikelen, links, nieuws, kalender, forum, verhalen en links

Friedrich Wegener Stichting - De patiëntenorganisatie van mensen met systemische vasculitis.