Joint project with
. This link opens in a new tab.
Reading time: 2 min
Vasculitis is an inflammation that causes changes in blood vessel walls such as narrowing, obstruction or widening, thereby restricting blood flow and possibly damaging organs and tissues. It is an uncommon disease that can affect anyone and at any age.
Vasculitis explained in first person
Professionals and patients explain how you live with the disease
Vasculitis | PortalCLÍNIC
At present, the established treatment is with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants. Work well, but in many cases there can be serious long-term side effects. For this reason, treatments have been evolving in recent years, and biological therapies are being used more. These are new, innovative treatments which treat the inflammatory pathway at the molecular level.
Georgina Espígol
Internist
Vasculitis explained in first perso...
Vasculitis is not a problem at all for me anymore and it doesn’t prevent me from leading a normal life. It is not a concern, except that I have to remember to take my medication.
Joan Ramon
Patient
Vasculitis is a group of disorders characterised by inflammation of different types (arteries, veins or capillaries) and sizes of blood vessels. It can affect any organ or system in the body, which is why some types of vasculitis are known as systemic disorders. The inflammation can damage the wall of the blood vessel and obstruct (causing ischaemia or a lack of blood supply to the affected organ) or rupture the vessel (haemorrhage).
Classification of the types of Vasculitis
The different types of systemic vasculitis are categorised according to the size of the affected blood vessel:
Large-vessel vasculitis. Giant cell arteritis (GCA) ,Takayasu’s arteritis.
Medium-vessel vasculitis. Polyarteritis nodosa, Kawasaki’s disease.
Small-vessel vasculitis. Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (formerly, Wegener’s granulomatosis); microscopic polyangiitis; eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (formerly, Churg–Strauss syndrome). They are also known as part of a group called ANCA-associated vasculitis (antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies), immunoglobulin A-associated vasculitis, (formerly, Henoch–Schönlein purpura), cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis and hypocomplementaemic vasculitis.
New categories of vasculitis have recently been added:
Variable-vessel vasculitis. Behçet’s disease, Cogan’s syndrome.
Vasculitis secondary to a causative agent. Vasculitis secondary to hepatitis B virus (HBV) or other viruses and cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis secondary to hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Vasculitis associated with a systemic disease. Such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis or sarcoidosis.
Single-organ vasculitis. Isolated central nervous system vasculitis, cutaneous arteritis, isolated cutaneous leucocytoclastic vasculitis, isolated aortitis, isolated focal vasculitis.
How many people are affected by Vasculitis?
All types of vasculitis are classified as rare diseases, given they affect less than 5 in every 10,000 people. In Spain and the Western society, the most common form of vasculitis in adults is giant cell arteritis, with an annual incidence of 2–11 patients per 100,000 inhabitants aged over 50. The most frequent type affecting the paediatric population is IgA-associated vasculitis, with around 10 new cases every year per 100,000 children aged under 15.
Joint project with
. This link opens in a new tab.
Sorry this content wasn't helpful to you. Send us your comment and we will take it into account to continue improving.
Thanks for your help!
An error has occurred and we were unable to send your opinion, please try again later.
Substantiated information by:
Georgina Espigol Frigolé
Medical Internist
Autoimmune Diseases Department
José Hernández Rodríguez
Medical Internist
Autoimmune Diseases Department
Maria Cinta Cid Xutgla
Medical Internist
Autoimmune Diseases Department
Sergio Prieto González
Medical internist
Department of Internal Medicine
Published: 30 November 2018
Updated: 30 November 2018
The donations that can be done through this webpage are exclusively for the benefit of Hospital Clínic of Barcelona through Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica and not for BBVA Foundation, entity that collaborates with the project of PortalClínic.
Subscribe
Receive the latest updates related to this content.
Thank you for subscribing!
If this is the first time you subscribe you will receive a confirmation email, check your inbox
An error occurred and we were unable to send your data, please try again later.
