Back to Homepage
Vasculitis could be a primary condition where there is no other underlying medical conditions. It could be secondary to other medical diseases, such as infections, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sjogren’s syndrome, and others. Primary vasculitis is further classified by the size of the blood vessels that is involved. The inflammation could affect small blood vessels, which is referred to as capillaries, arterials, and venules. Some of the condition in this category include what we call ANCA vasculitis. When the inflammation affects medium sized blood vessels, it is called medium vessel vasculitis. Some common example in this group include Kawasaki’s disease and Polyarteritis nodosa, also referred to as PAN. In the third category, the inflammation predominantly occurs in the large blood vessels, such as aorta and the bigger bronzes. Some of the example in this category include giant cell arteritis and Takayasu arteritis. Occasionally, there is an overlap in features of these three categories. Behcet’s disease and Colgan’s syndrome belong to this category.
