Vasculitis What is this autoimmune disease

As in other autoimmune illnesses, vasculitis is not a disease in itself, but is used as a term to encompass a group of sicknesses that have one thing in mutual: inflammation of plasma vessels - arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules and veins. Liable on the location of the inflammation, size and other characteristics, up to eleven different types of vasculitis can be differentiated, as the inflammation being located on one side or the other of the body will influence - and from significantly - what kind of clinical manifestations will we have. have. sickness .

In general, it can touch any age, "although there are additional typical subtypes, contingent on the age group," they opinion out from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology (SER). Thus, in children, the most mutual is Kawasaki disease or Henoch-Schönlein syndrome, while in the elderly, large cell arteritis is supplementary archetypal .

Registrars still do not know what causes vasculitis in all of its variants, but they do know some of those caused by an infectious or pharmacological agent, such as that associated with hepatitis B computer program (HBV); cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV); and cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis, preceded by infection or the administration of a drug ”, they specify from the clinical hospital in Barcelona .

In other vasculitis, the origin remains a anonymous. The hypothesis of a genetic predisposition is considered in some of them, while in others hormonal factors (more common in women and children) and environmental factors have been identified, which help activate the response. . … To inflammatory diseases of the vascular wall. some blood. .

Because it is a disease with different subtypes, the symptoms are very varied, but there are a few things in common: “The general symptoms are usually fever, fatigue, weight loss or poor health. General ”, explains Ricardo Blanco, rheumatologist at the university hospital. The Marquis Valdecilla de Santander. In some subtypes, he adds, there are painful canker sores, different types of skin lesions, clinical signs of the upper respiratory tract (sinusitis), and even tingling in the extremities. He advises older patients to see a doctor. "With severe headaches in the shoulder or thigh and temporary vision loss or double vision. In children, on the contrary," the most striking signs are purple spots on the skin, abdominal pain and articular . "

Depending on the type of vasculitis, treatment will also vary, although the practice is to prescribe corticosteroids, usually in high doses (appropriate for the patient's weight), both orally (prednisone) and intravenously (methylprednisone). . ). », Indicates the Barcelona clinic, even if it specifies that the intravenous route is more frequent in the worst case. In addition, in cases where the dose is very high or the side effects are numerous, an additional immunosuppressant is usually added.