Vasculitides
Vasculitis is inflammation +/- necrosis of a blood vessel with subsequent impairment of blood flow. The vessel wall destruction leads to perforation and hemorrhage into adjacent tissues. The endothelial injury leads to thrombosis and subsequent impairment of blood flow causing ischemia/infarction of dependent tissues.
There is no single typical presentation of vasculitis.
Vasculitides are classified by the size of the blood vessel involved: large-, medium-, or small-vessel vasculitis.
The types of vasculitis differ widely with regard to age, gender, ethnicity, and clinical presentation.
Appropriate tissue biopsies or angiographic studies are usually necessary for diagnosis.
The aggressiveness of treatment should be commensurate with the extent of end-organ involvement.
Characteristic histologic features of vasculitis:
Infiltration of the vessel wall by neutrophils, mononuclear cells, and/or giant cells
Fibrinoid necrosis (panmural destruction of the vessel wall)
Leukocytoclasis (dissolution of leukocytes, yielding “nuclear dust”
Immune mechanism:
- Cell-mediated: giant cell arteritis (GCA), Takayasu arteritis, primary central nervous system (CNS) vasculitis
- Immune-complex-mediated: mononeuritis multiplex (PAN), Henoch–Schönlein purpura, cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, and cutaneous leukocytoclastic angiitis
- Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated: Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA; Wegener granulomatosis), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA; Churg–Strauss syndrome)
Vasculitis Nomenclature Agreed at the International Chapel Hill Consensus Conference
2012 Revised International Chapel Hill Consensus Conference Nomenclature of Vasculitides
NOMENCLATURE | VASCULITIS |
Large-vessel vasculitis | Takayasu arteritis |
| Giant cell (temporal) arteritis (GCA) |
Medium-vessel vasculitis | Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) |
| |
Small-vessel vasculitis | Immune-complex-mediated |
| Anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease |
| Cryoglobulinemic vasculitis |
| IgA vasculitis (Henoch–Schönlein purpura) |
| Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis (HUVS, anti-Clq vasculitis) |
| Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated (pauci-immune) |
| Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA)(Wegener’s granulomatosis) |
| Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) |
| Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) (Churg-Strauss) |
Variable-vessel vasculitis | |
| Cogan syndrome |
Single-organ vasculitis | Cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis |
| Cutaneous arteritis |
| Primary central nervous system vasculitis (isolated angiitis of CNS) |
| Isolated aortitis |
| Others |
Vasculitis associated with systemic disease | Lupus vasculitis |
| Rheumatoid vasculitis |
| Sarcoid vasculitis |
| Others |
Vasculitis associated with probable etiology | Hepatitis C virus-associated cryoglobulinemic vasculitis |
| Hepatitis B virus-associated vasculitis |
| Syphilis-associated vasculitis |
| Drug-associated immune complex vasculitis (hypersensitivity vasculitis) |
| Drug-associated ANCA-associated vasculitis |
| Cancer-associated vasculitis |
| Others |
There are specific American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for many of the major types of vasculitis. These differentiate one vasculitis from another, rather than describing all of the manifestations of a particular form of vasculitis. Thus, these criteria are rarely useful for diagnosis, and appropriate tissue biopsy is generally necessary for confirmation.
Vasculitis should be suspected in any constitutionally ill patient who has evidence of multisystem inflammatory disease. The clinical manifestations may suggest the size of vessel involved and the most likely vasculitis. Typical presentations:
Large-vessel vasculitis: limb claudication, bruits, asymmetric blood pressures, absence of pulses
Medium-vessel vasculitis: cutaneous nodules, ulcers, livedo reticularis, digital gangrene, mononeuritis multiplex, renovascular hypertension
Small-vessel vasculitis: palpable purpura, urticaria, glomerulonephritis, alveolar hemorrhage, scleritis
--> Headache or visual loss in the elderly (GCA), asymmetric pulses with bruits in a patient <30 years of age (Takayasu arteritis), mononeuritis multiplex (PAN), rapidly progressive pulmonary–renal syndrome (ANCA-associated vasculitis), and palpable purpura (immune-complex-mediated vasculitis) are the most common presentations suggesting vasculitis.
Localized Clinical Features that Suggest Different Types of Vasculitis
SYMPTOMS | DIAGNOSIS |
Jaw claudication, visual loss, palpable, thickened, tender temporal artery, or | Giant cell arteritis (GCA) |
Diminished temporal artery pulsation |
|
Absent radial pulses, difficulty obtaining a blood pressure in one arm | Takayasu arteritis or large artery involvement in GCA |
Sinus involvement, otitis media, scleritis | GPA (Wegener) or EGPA (Churg–Strauss syndrome) |
Hypertension, renal vascular involvement | Polyarteritis nodosa or Takayasu arteritis |
Asthma | EGPA (Churg–Strauss syndrome) |
Testicular tenderness | Polyarteritis nodosa |
Pulmonary–renal syndromes (hemoptysis and glomerulonephritis) | GPA (Wegener) and microscopic polyangiitis |
Treatment of a vasculitis
General approach
Identify and remove inciting agents (i.e., medications, infection, etc.).
Treat the primary underlying disease associated with the vasculitis (antibiotics for endocarditis, antiviral therapy for hepatitis B or C).
Initiate antiinflammatory and/or immunosuppressive therapy commensurate with the extent of the vasculitis.
The combination of cyclophosphamide and prednisone is often regarded as the first choice for induction therapy of generalized and severe types of vasculitis. New targeted biologic agents may replace cyclophosphamide as induction therapy for some forms of vasculitis (e.g., rituximab for ANCA-associated vasculitis).
Prevent complications such as infection (PPD, Pneumovax, and other immunizations; trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis if on high dose prednisone), osteoporosis, and atherosclerosis (control blood pressure and lipids).
Web:
American College of Rheumatology