Doctors refer to vasculitis as the inflammation of a blood vessel that can also spread to organs. Vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood vessels with many manifestations. It often occurs as a result of an excessive reaction of the immune system.
You can find out below which doctor treats vasculitis and what the therapy looks like.
The generic medical term vasculitis covers various clinical pictures. They have different causes and courses. A distinction is made between primary and secondary vasculitis:
The inflamed vessels swell. This makes it increasingly difficult to supply the organs with oxygen and vital nutrients.
Vascular inflammation can affect blood vessels of different types and sizes:
The vasculitides Behcet's disease and Cogan's syndrome can affect blood vessels of all types.
Giant cell arteritis(arteritis cranialis) is the most common of all vasculitides. It mainly affects the temporal arteries. Patients with this disease are usually older. They often also suffer from polymyalgia (rheumatic disease with severe muscle pain).
Vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood vessels that impedes blood flow © Henrie | AdobeStock
If theaorta and its main branches are inflamed, this is known as Takayasu's arteritis.
Wegener's granulomatosis has a special anatomical feature: The inflamed vessels - mostly kidneys and pulmonary arterioles- show coarse nodular changes. In the initial stage, they are only found in the respiratory organs. As the disease progresses, granulomatosis also spreads to other organs.
Kawasaki syndrome mainly affects small children under the age of 5.
Behcet's disease is particularly widespread in Turkey and Japan. The inflammation can be life-threatening if it spreads to the lungs, heart or central nervous system(brain and spinal cord).
Secondary vasculitis usually only affects small blood vessels. Vasculitis allergica, for example, is one of the vasculitis caused by certain drugs. It is triggered by allergy remedies and asthma sprays.
Primary vasculitis is usually the result of an autoimmune reaction. This is an inappropriately strong reaction of the human immune system to the body's own structures.
It first damages the inner walls of the affected blood vessels. Subsequently, the inflammatory processes also spread to nearby organs.
What exactly leads to vascular inflammation is still unclear. A combination of hereditary predisposition and external factors is suspected. An infection with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is suspected to be a risk factor.
Secondary vasculitis is often associated with
as the cause. For example, the side effects of some antibiotics can trigger vasculitis.
The individual vasculitides differ in terms of the specific symptoms experienced by patients.
General signs of all vasculitis are, for example
Depending on the form and severity, specific symptoms may also occur. These can be
Patients who suspect they have vasculitis should consult a doctor as soon as possible. Specialists are specialists for vascular diseases(angiologists or phlebologists).
If the examination confirms the suspicion, a blood sample will be taken. This can be used in the laboratory to test for ANCA antibodies and elevated inflammation levels.
An X-ray of the affected organs or an angiography (X-ray of the blood vessels) provides further clues. The removal of a tissue sample (biopsy) from the skin
can also be helpful in diagnosing vasculitis.
Treatment with immunosuppressive medication provides relief for many patients. These drugs inhibit the excessive immune response and thus the progression of the disease in the body.
In addition, vasculitis therapy also involves the use of special medications that treat the respective form of vasculitis. These primarily include corticosteroids. The patient receives high doses at the start of treatment, which are gradually reduced as treatment progresses.
Cytostatic drugs such as cyclophosphamide are also used in severe cases. Recently, antibodies have also become available for certain forms of vasculitis.
Vascular inflammation itself cannot be cured. Nevertheless, people affected by it can lead a largely symptom-free life.
However, relapses do sometimes occur. They should be recognized and treated in good time.
