Overview of Vasculitis
What is vasculitis?
"Vascular" means having to do with blood vessels. "-Itis" means inflammation. So vasculitis is inflammation of blood vessels.
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Vasculitis can affect any size or type of blood vessel
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It may affect many blood vessels in many organs or just a few vessels in 1 or 2 organs
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The inflamed blood vessels become narrow or clogged and don't deliver enough blood
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Vasculitis can be caused by certain infections or drugs
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You may have a fever and feel tired, then get other symptoms depending on which organs are affected
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Doctors do a biopsy (take a sample of tissue from an affected organ) to look at its blood vessels
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Doctors have you take corticosteroids or other medicines to limit inflammation
What causes vasculitis?
What are the symptoms of vasculitis?
How can doctors tell if I have vasculitis?
Vasculitis is uncommon. Doctors often don't suspect it when symptoms first develop. When certain combinations of symptoms last long enough, doctors may suspect vasculitis. To confirm you have vasculitis, doctors do:
You may need other tests to check which organs are affected. For example, you may have a urine test to see if your kidneys are affected. You may have an EKG/ECG to see if your heart is affected. If your lungs seem to be affected, doctors may do a chest x-ray and CT scan.
