Vasculitis - Types - Types

There are many different types of vasculitis that affect different blood vessels throughout the body.

Types of vasculitis include the following.

• Anti-glomerular basement membrane disease affects blood vessels in the lungs and kidneys.
• Behçet’s disease can cause damage to many organs.
• Buerger’s disease, also known as thromboangiitis obliterans, usually affects blood flow to the arms and legs.
• Central nervous system vasculitis affects the blood vessels in the central nervous system, or the brain and spinal cord. It is also called primary angiitis of the central nervous system. This type of vasculitis may also occur as the result of another type of vasculitis.
• Cogan’s syndrome is an autoimmune disorder associated with a particular type of vasculitis that affects the whole body.
• Cryoglobulinemic vasculitis affects the small blood vessels. It prevents proper blood flow and causes pain and damage to the skin, joints, peripheral nerves, kidneys, and liver.
• Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, also known as Churg-Strauss syndrome, often affects the respiratory tract.
• Giant cell arteritis mostly affects the aorta or its major branches. The condition often affects the temporal artery in the head.
• Granulomatosis with polyangiitis usually affects the upper respiratory tract, lungs, and kidneys.
• Hypersensitivity vasculitis affects the skin. This condition also is known as allergic vasculitis, cutaneous vasculitis, or leukocytoclastic vasculitis.
• Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis is associated with a certain type of antibodies .
• Immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis, also known as Henoch-Schönlein purpura, is one of the most common types of vasculitis in children but can also affect adults. It develops when IgA, which is a type of antibody that usually helps defend the body against infections, builds up in blood vessels in the skin, joints, intestines, and kidneys.
• Kawasaki disease is a rare childhood disease that develops when the walls of the blood vessels throughout the body become inflamed. Kawasaki disease is also known as mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome.
• Microscopic polyangiitis affects small blood vessels, often including those in the kidneys and lungs.
• Polyarteritis nodosa causes swelling and damage most often to medium-sized arteries. This type of vasculitis may cause muscle pain or gastrointestinal symptoms.
• Takayasu arteritis most often affects the aorta and its branches. The condition can also affect medium-sized arteries.