User:Mr. Ibrahem/Vasculitis

Vasculitis is a group of disorders that involves inflammation of blood vessels. Symptoms may include fever, weight loss, tiredness, bleeding, and tender blood vessels. Further symptoms may vary depending on the location and type of vessel affected. Complications may include stroke, heart attacks, aortic dissection, kidney failure, and coughing up blood.

There are more than 30 types of vasculitis, which may involve arteries, veins, or capillaries. Types that involve large vessels include giant cell arteritis (GCA), Takayasu disease, and Behcet disease; types that involve medium vessels include Kawasaki disease and polyarteritis nodosa (PAN); and types that involve small vessels include microscopic polyangiitis and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). There; however, may be overlap between these groups.

The cause is often unknown, though certain cases may be triggered by an infection, medication, or other disorder. Risk factors depend on the condition in question. The underlying mechanism is often that of an autoimmune disease with neutrophils entering the inner lining of the vessel. The diagnosis may be suspected based on blood tests, such as ESR or CRP, medical imaging, and biopsy.

Treatment depends on the type, though steroids are often used initially. About 3 per 100,000 people are newly affected by a systemic vasculitis per year in Europe and the United States. In those over the age of 50 GCA newly affects about 24 per 100,000 per year. Different types of disease are more common within certain age groups. Overall males and females are affected with similar frequency. While the condition has been described since at least the 11th century the first detailed description is attributed to Kussmaul and Maier in 1866.