Vasculitis symptoms and treatment

Rare disease

 Vasculitis: Overview

When the immune system attacks healthy blood vessel linings, a condition known as vasculitis develops.  Capillaries, arteries, and veins are all potential targets.  Because the walls of blood vessels enlarge due to this illness, blood flow to important organs is restricted.  Serious consequences can arise in certain instances of vasculitis.

Vasculitis can be caused by a wide variety of things, including infections, autoimmune diseases, or negative drug reactions. Vasculitis is a condition where your blood vessels become inflamed. This inflammation can cause the vessel walls to thicken, narrow, weaken, or even scar, which may restrict blood flow and lead to organ or tissue damage.

Why does it happen?

Vasculitis is often caused by:

• Autoimmune reactions happen when your immune system strikes blood vessels by accident.
• Gets sick (like hepatitis B or C)
• Several medicines
• Other autoimmune illnesses, like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis
• Some cases are caused by blood cancers or unknown factors.

Many kinds of vasculitis

There are more than 30 types, which are grouped by the size of the vessels they affect:

• Big blood vessel vasculitis: Takayasu arteritis and giant cell arteritis.
• Medium artery vasculitis: Kawasaki disease and polyarteritis nodosa are examples. 
• Small vessel vasculitis: IgA vasculitis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and microscopic polyangiitis. 

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms depend on which organs and blood vessels are damaged, but some common ones are:

• Loss of weight, fever, and tiredness
• spots or sores on the skin
• Feeling numb or tingly in the limbs
• Not being able to breathe or cough
• Pain in the stomach and joints
• Headaches or changes in your vision

How to Treat

There is no fix, but the following things can help:

• Corticosteroids to lower swelling
• Biotech or immunosuppressants
• In serious cases (like aneurysms or blocked blood vessels), surgery is needed.

These are some common kinds of vasculitis.

• Major arteries, like the aorta and its branches, can get large vessel vasculitis.
• Older adults are more likely to have giant cell arthritis, also called temporal arthritis, which can cause eye loss and scalp pain.
• People younger than 50 are more likely to have Takayasu Arteritis, which affects the aorta and its main branches and causes arm weakness and high blood pressure.

Vasculitis that affects medium-sized vessels usually affects the following organs:

• The majority of cases of Kawasaki disease occur in children. If you have Polyarteritis Nodosa (PAN), it can hurt your skin, muscles, joints, and kidneys.
• TThese symptoms may include fever, rash, and heart problems.

Vasculitis of the Small Veins

Contains very small vessels, arterioles, venules, and capillaries:

• Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA): This condition, which used to be called Wegener's granulomatosis, affects the lungs and kidneys.
• Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA) is like GPA but doesn't have granulomas. It mostly affects the lungs and kidneys.
• Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA) affects the lungs, skin, and nerves. It tends to happen to people who have asthma or allergies.
• IgA Vasculitis, also known as Henoch-Schönlein Purpura, is common in kids and leads to a rash, joint pain, and stomach pain.
• Cryoglobulinemic Vasculitis is linked to hepatitis C and leads to sores on the skin, nerve damage, and problems with the kidneys.

They each have their own habits, cues, and organs they attack.

When should I go to the doctor?

Talk to your doctor if you think you might have vasculitis or if you have strange symptoms that don't go away quickly. Vasculitis can affect many organs and look like other health problems, so finding it early is very important.

*See a doctor right away if you have a fever that you can't explain, tiredness, or weight loss that won't go away.

*New spots, especially ones that are purple or look like bruises

*Joint pain, stiffness, or muscle aches that don't go away

*Hands or feet that tingle, feel numb, or are weak

*Blood in the throat, loss of breath, or chest pain

*Back pain or stools that are bloody

*Headaches, changes in vision, or sore spots on the scalp (most often in older people)

*When you have high blood pressure or new kidney problems

Even mild signs like changes in the skin or feeling tired for a long time could be early warning signs. There are different tests your doctor can use to find out if vasculitis is the problem or if there is something else going on.

How is vasculitis found?

Vasculitis can be hard to diagnose because its signs look like those of a lot of other health problems. To make a diagnosis, doctors usually use a mix of tests and physical signs. In general, this is how it's done:

Step-by-Step Methods for Diagnosis 

1. Medical History and Physical Exam

• Symptoms' length, severity, and trend are discussed.
• Skin, joints, nerves, and organs are being looked at.
• Making sure there are no fevers, rashes, or signs of organ involvement

2. Checking the blood

• C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) are indicators of inflammation.
• Complete blood count (CBC): Checks for anemia or high white cell counts
• Autoantibodies are:
• Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies (ANCA): linked to GPA, MPA, and EGPA
• Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) may be a sign of linked autoimmune diseases.
• Tests of the kidneys and liver

3. Tests of the urine

• Look for blood or protein, which can mean the kidneys are involved.

4. X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and PET scans to look for damage to organs or swollen blood vessels

• Angiogram: This test shows blood vessels that are stopped or narrowed, most often in large- and medium-vessel vasculitis.

5. Biopsy 

• The most accurate test looks for broken or swollen blood vessels in tissue (usually skin, kidney, or nerve).

When a case is complicated, doctors from different fields, like arthritis, nephrology, neurology, and so on, may work together. Getting tested for vasculitis as soon as possible increases the chances of protecting organs and relieving symptoms.

Also read, https://www.icliniq.com/articles/immune-disorders/vasculitis.

What can go wrong with Vasculitis?

Vasculitis can affect almost any organ or tissue, so the consequences depend on the type of inflammation, how bad it is, and where it is located. Vasculitis can cause major long-term health problems if it is not treated or is not well controlled.

Common Problems by System: 

• Aneurysms: Blood arteries that aren't strong enough can bulge and burst
• Strokes or heart attacks: Inflammation that slows or stops blood flow
• Bad kidney or blood vessel damage is often linked to high blood pressure.

Brain and Nerves

• Peripheral neuropathy, which results from damaged nerves, can cause weakness, tingling, or numbness.
• Brain inflammation can lead to issues with thinking and memory, as well as seizures.

Kidneys

• Glomerulonephritis: Inflammation of the kidney cells, which causes protein and blood to show up in the urine
• Kidney failure: If the damage is too great

Lungs

• Bleeding into the lungs is called a pulmonary bleed.
• Because of inflammation, joints and muscles can cause shortness of breath or long-term lung disease.

Long-term pain or signs of arthritis

• Loss of muscle if organs don't get enough blood
• In the worst cases, skin ulcers, death, or gangrene can happen.
• Purpura, or spots that won't go away or heal

Large-scale problems

• Failure of an organ (heart, kidneys, lungs)
• Serious diseases are caused by treatments that weaken the immune system
• Loss of sight (most common in giant cell arteritis)
• Gastrointestinal bleeding or perforation

Conclusion.

In essence, vasculitis makes blood vessels swell and hurt. Blood flow may be hampered by this inflammation, which could harm tissues in numerous systems.

Vasculitis isn't a disease that works the same way for everyone; it's changing, complicated, and closely linked to immune health and vascular health. Medical care given at the right time and long-term tracking are essential for controlling the condition and protecting the quality of life.