Vasculitis
Vasculitis is a group of disorders in which vessel-wall inflammation causes ischaemia, aneurysm or haemorrhage; vessel size and the organ pattern guide diagnosis, urgency and treatment.
Definition
Vasculitis is a group of diseases characterised by inflammation of blood vessel walls, causing vessel narrowing, occlusion, aneurysm or haemorrhage and injury to the supplied tissues. Classification by predominant vessel size is a useful framework, but diagnosis depends on the clinical phenotype, investigations and pathology where available.
First principles
The vessel wall is the primary lesion
Inflammation can narrow or occlude a vessel, causing downstream ischaemia and infarction, or weaken it, causing aneurysm and bleeding. The symptoms therefore reflect the tissue supplied: kidney, lung, skin, nerve, eye, bowel, brain or large arteries.
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