Vasculitides

Vasculitides

Definition: immune-mediated inflammation of blood vessels
Classifications: by size of the vessel, anatomical location, and immunological findings

Large Vessel Vasculities

• Giant cell arteritis 
• usually > 50 yo
• inflammation of the temporal, vertebral, or ophthalamic arteries
• increased ESR
• histology = segmental
• Takayasu arteritis
• inflammation of the lg arteries branching from the aortic arch
• downstream ischemia causing blindness
• undetectable pulse in upper extremeties

Medium Vessel Vasculities

• Polyarteritis nodosa
• segmental nectrotizing inflammation of any vessel (most often kidney, heart, and liver)
•  affects young adults
• Kawasaki disease
• acute vasculitis
• primarily coronary vessels
• Thromboangiitis obliterans
• aka Buerger's disease
• acute and chronic inflammation
• inflammation that can spread to veins and nerves

Small Vessel Vasculities

• Wegener granulomatosis
• either acute or necrotizing
• prominent lung involvement
• Churg Strauss Syndrome
• necrotizing granulomatous
• affects vessels and surrounding tissues (usually heart and lungs)
• numerous eosinophils
• Microscopic polyangiitis
• usually affects the skin
• most caused by immune responses  

Photo source: http://www.wegenersgranulomatosis.net/5_autoimmune_vasculitis.php
Source: Hardcore: Pathology, Carter Wahl