Vasculitis is inflammation of the blood vessels. It happens when the immune system attacks a blood vessel by mistake. An infection, a medicine or another disease can set it off, but often the cause is never found.
Which vessels it affects
Vasculitis can strike any of the three kinds of blood vessel:
| Vessel | What it does |
|---|---|
| Arteries | carry blood from the heart to the body's organs |
| Veins | carry blood back to the heart |
| Capillaries | tiny vessels linking the small arteries and veins |
What inflammation does to a vessel
An inflamed blood vessel can:
- narrow, so blood has a harder time getting through;
- close off completely, so blood can't get through at all;
- stretch and weaken until it bulges. The bulge is called an aneurysm, and if it bursts it can cause dangerous bleeding inside the body.
Symptoms
Symptoms vary from person to person, but they usually include:
- fever
- swelling
- a general feeling of being ill
Treatment
The main aim of treatment is to stop the inflammation. Steroids and other anti-inflammatory medicines often help.
Sources
Based on "Vasculitis," MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, drawing on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH); a work of the United States government in the public domain.
LanguagesEnglish
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from medlineplus.gov
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