Vasculitis

What is it?
Vasculitis refers to a rare group of conditions where there is inflammation of blood vessels. There are various different types of vasculitis, which can be classified according to the size of the blood vessels damaged, according to the part of the body affected, and also whether there is any underlying disease. It is also useful to know whether the patient has the ANCA antibody in the blood (anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody). Vasculitis can be divided accordingly in various ways:

Classifications

There is a group of vasculitic conditions known as primary systemic vasculitis, so called because they affect the whole body (systemic), and are primary (there is no underlying condition). Examples of these conditions are Wegener’s granulomatosis, microscopic polyarteritis/polyangiitis and Churg-Strauss syndrome.