Vasculitis (plural: vasculitides)[1] is a group of disorders that destroy blood vessels by inflammation.[2] Both arteries and veins are affected. Lymphangitis is sometimes considered a type of vasculitis.[3] Vasculitis is primarily caused by leukocyte migration and resultant damage.

Although both occur in vasculitis, inflammation of veins (phlebitis) or arteries (arteritis) on their own are separate entities.

Possible symptoms include:[4]

Vasculitis can be classified by the cause, the location, the type of vessel or the size of vessel.

According to the size of the vessel affected, vasculitis can be classified into:[6]

Some disorders have vasculitis as their main feature. The major types are given in the table below:

Takayasu's arteritis, polyarteritis nodosa and giant cell arteritis mainly involve arteries and are thus sometimes classed specifically under arteritis.

Furthermore, there are many conditions that have vasculitis as an accompanying or atypical symptom, including:

Several of these vasculitides are associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies.[7] These are

In this table: ANA = Antinuclear antibodies, CRP = C-reactive protein, dsDNA = double-stranded DNA, ENA = extractable nuclear antigens, RNP = ribonucleoproteins; VDRL = Venereal Disease Research Laboratory

Originally posted here:
Vasculitis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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