Information on Vasculitis at National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
Vasculitis (vas-kyu-LI-tis) is a condition that involves inflammation in the blood vessels. The condition occurs if your immune system attacks your blood vessels by mistake. This may happen as the result of an infection, a medicine, or another disease or condition. The inflammation can lead to serious problems. Complications depend on which blood vessels, organs, or other body systems are affected. Read more from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
Information on Vasculitis Syndromes of the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Vasculitis is an inflammation of the vascular system, which includes the veins, arteries, and capillaries. Researchers think that inflammation is due to a faulty immune system response. Vasculitis can cause problems in any organ system, including the central (CNS) and peripheral (PNS) nervous systems. Vasculitis disorders, or syndromes, of the CNS and PNS are characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in and around blood vessels, and secondary narrowing or blockage of the blood vessels that nourish the brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nerves. Although these disorders are rare, there are many of them. Learn more at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Information on Vasculitis from Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center
The symptoms of vasculitis depend on the particular blood vessels that are involved by the inflammatory process. Different types of vasculitis involve blood vessels in characteristic locations throughout the body. Different types of vasculitis have characteristic (localized)patterns of blood vessel involvement. However, vasculitis is a systemic illness. Thus, patients with vasculitis feel sick. They often have fevers, weight loss, fatigue, a rapid pulse, and diffuse aches and pains that are difficult to pinpoint. Learn more from Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center.
News Release: TREATMENT FOR VASCULITIS BREAKS AWAY FROM DECADES-OLD STANDARD
Rituximab offers the same benefits as cyclophosphamide in the treatment of vasculitis, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa. Read more at the American College of Rheumatology.
Vasculitis Patient Handbook
Description of vasculitis subtypes and treatments available from the Vasculitis Foundation.
Video: Vasculitis - What to know, what to expect at different stages
See an explanation of the intricacies of vasculitis during a session of the June 2008 Vasculitis Symposium at the Mayo Clinic. Watch the Video from the Vasculitis Foundation.
Podcast: Vasculitis - An Overview
Dr. Gary Gilkeson, a rheumatologist, talks about the different types of vasculitis, symptoms associated with vasculitis and explains the prognosis and medications used to treat the illness. Listen at the Medical University of South Carolina Podcast Library.
Full Text: The use of nerve and muscle biopsy in the diagnosis of vasculitis: a 5 year retrospective study
Introduction: Peripheral nerve vasculitis is an important condition which can be diagnostically challenging and is one of the principal current indications for nerve and muscle biopsy. Previous studies have suggested that combined nerve and muscle biopsy (usually of the superficial peroneal nerve and peroneus brevis muscle) produces a higher diagnostic yield than nerve biopsy alone in the investigation of vasculitis. Objective:To determine whether in our two centres combined nerve (usually the sural) and muscle (usually the vastus lateralis) biopsy improved diagnostic yield compared with nerve biopsy alone. Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: Diagnostic approach to patients with suspected vasculitis
Vasculitis presents several diagnostic challenges. Firstly, patients could present with protean clinical manifestations with a wide spectrum ranging from isolated cutaneous vasculitis to multisystem involvement. Secondly, there are several medical conditions that could mimic the presentation of vasculitis. The range of differential diagnosis is therefore broad. Thirdly, vasculitis could occur as a primary disorder or be secondary to various medical conditions. It becomes important to differentiate them, as treatment of some forms of vasculitis such as those that are secondary to infection or drugs, is different from that of primary vasculitis. Fourthly, there are several different forms of vasculitis. Some are benign and self limiting, while others have the potential to threaten vital organ function and life. It follows that a rational approach is required during evaluation of patients with suspected vasculitis. Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: Vasculitis: mechanisms involved and clinical manifestations
Various pathogenic mechanisms have been implicated in the induction of vasculitis, including cell-mediated inflammation, immune complex-mediated inflammation and autoantibody-mediated inflammation. This inflammatory activity is believed to contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis, and also leads to increased risk for cardiovascular events in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: Balloon angioplasty of arteries of the upper extremities in patients with extracranial giant?cell arteritis
Objectives: To evaluate the outcome of balloon angioplasty in the arteries of the upper extremities in patients with giant?cell arteritis (GCA) and stenosing extracranial involvement. Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: Peripheral arterial disease in polymyalgia rheumatica
Patients with polymyalgia rheumatica have been shown to have an increased risk of peripheral arterial disease on longitudinal follow-up. Possible explanations for this include premature atherosclerosis related to chronic inflammation, as with other inflammatory rheumatological conditions. Alternatively, polymyalgia rheumatica can be associated with vasculitis, even in the absence of clinical giant cell arteritis, and peripheral vascular disease may represent subclinical vasculitis. Further work is required to elucidate the reasons for this increased risk. Currently, it would remain reasonable to aggressively control modifiable atherosclerotic risk factors. Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: Childhood Stroke as the Presentation of Takayasu's Arteritis: Diagnostic Delay Can Cause Catastrophic Complications
The clinical presentation of TA in children is more heterogeneous than in adults. TA is a treatable disease but can potentially produce disability and death. Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: Small-vessel vasculitis surrounding an uninflamed temporal artery: a new diagnostic criterion for polymyalgia rheumatica?
OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and clinical significance of small-vessel vasculitis (SVV) surrounding an uninflamed temporal artery (TA) in patients diagnosed as having giant cell (temporal) arteritis (GCA) and/or polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: The purpose of this study is to describe the nature of cases undergoing temporal artery biopsy (TAB) for suspected giant cell arteritis (GCA).
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to describe the nature of cases undergoing temporal artery biopsy (TAB) for suspected giant cell arteritis (GCA). METHODS: A retrospective review of case notes was undertaken for all patients on whom ophthalmologists had performed TAB in 2 teaching hospitals between 1995 and 2001. Presenting symptoms, referring specialty, TAB result, treatment, and discharge diagnosis were recorded. Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: Cutaneous vasculitides: clinico-pathological correlation.
BACKGROUND: Cutaneous vasculitis presents as a mosaic of clinical and histological findings. Its pathogenic mechanisms and clinical manifestations are varied. AIMS: To study the epidemiological spectrum of cutaneous vasculitides as seen in a dermatologic clinic and to determine the clinico-pathological correlation. Full text available at Pubmed.
Full Text: Clinical classification of vasculitis.
Clinical classification of vasculitis is needed to facilitate diagnosis and management of the disease as well as to assign patients to defined groups for clinical studies. Full text available at Pubmed.
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Source: Vasculitis Foundation
Types of Blood Vessels Affected
Source: Vasculitis Foundation
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