Overview

What Is Vasculitis?

Vasculitis is a term for inflammation of your blood vessels. It is rare condition caused by your immune system mistakenly attacking your own blood vessels. Your blood vessels’ main job is carrying blood from your heart to the rest of your organs. There are many different types of vasculitis.

Chronic (long-term) inflammation of the vessels can disrupt blood flow to the rest of your body. This can cause serious issues depending upon the severity of the disease, where it occurs in your body and the type of vasculitis.

Vasculitis can be life-threatening, but there are many treatment options. It is a long-term disease. Once you have been diagnosed, the goal is to achieve remission (inactive disease). However, it can come back or flare up.


Types of Vasculitis

Your care team will classify the type of vasculitis you have by the type, pattern, and size of the blood vessels involved.

Vasculitis affecting the small and medium vessels include:

  • Buerger's disease: This disease can inflame and block the blood vessels to your hands and feet. It can cause pain in your extremities (such as your arm or leg) and ulcers on your fingers and toes. It is linked with cigarette smoking.
  • Central nervous system vasculitis: This condition causes inflammation of the blood vessels in your brain or spine. Your brain and spine make up the central nervous system.
  • Cryoglobulinemic vasculitis: Abnormal protein in the blood can cause this disease. It can be associated with infectious diseases, such as hepatitis C, and with blood cancers. Symptoms include rashes, joint pain, numbness and weakness.
  • Cutaneous small-vessel vasculitis, formerly called hypersensitivity vasculitis: An allergic reaction to medication often causes this condition. It affects your skin, typically on the lower body.
  • Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, formerly called Churg-Strauss syndrome: This condition is associated with increased eosinophils (a type of white blood cell). It can affect the kidneys, lungs, nerves, heart, skin and other organs.
  • Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), formerly called Wegner’s granulomatosis: GPA can affect your sinuses, upper airway (trachea), lungs, kidneys and many other organs. You may have joint pain, eye problems, cough, blood in your urine, hearing or vision problems, rashes, and other symptoms of fatigue, weakness and fevers.
  • IgA (immunoglobin) vasculitis, formerly known as Henoch-Schönlein purpura: This condition usually affects children, but it can occur at any age. Inflammation in the capillaries (the smallest blood vessels) causes this disease. It can damage your skin, joints, bowel and kidney.
  • Microscopic polyangiitis: This condition affects the blood vessels of the kidney, lungs, skin, joints and nerves. Symptoms may start suddenly and progress quickly.
  • Rheumatoid vasculitis: Rheumatoid vasculitis is a complication of rheumatoid arthritis. It commonly impacts the small and medium blood vessels of the skin and nerves, but it can impact any organ.

Vasculitis affecting the medium vessels include:

  • Kawasaki disease: This disease affects young children. In most cases, the outlook is good with treatment, but in some cases, it can lead to heart abnormalities.
  • Polyarteritis nodosa: Blood vessel inflammation may cause aneurysms (outpouchings of the blood vessels). Symptoms include weight loss, abdominal pain, nerve and movement problems, testicle pain, and skin ulcerations or nodules.

Vasculitis affecting the large vessels include:

  • Aortitis: This condition inflames your aorta, which carries oxygenated blood from your heart to your body. It is commonly seen in systemic vasculitis, inflammatory conditions and in some cases infection.
  • Giant cell arteritis or temporal arteritis: This condition usually affects older people and inflames the arteries in the head and aorta, causing headaches and vision problems. If it is not treated, it can lead to blindness and stroke. This disease is associated with polymyalgia rheumatic and could occur at the same time.
  • Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR): This condition affects older people, typically those in their 60s or 70s. It affects your large joints. It causes pain and stiffness in areas like your lower back, shoulders, hips and thighs.
  • Takayasu arteritis: This affects the large arteries in your body (the aorta and its branches). It most common in young women ages 15 to 40.

Vasculitis affecting arteries of various sizes include:

  • Behcet’s disease: This disease can inflame your arteries and veins. Symptoms include oral and genital ulcers, eye inflammation and skin lesions.
  • Cogan’s syndrome: This condition is systemic, meaning it affects the whole body. However, it is commonly seen in the aorta.