Vasculitis - Risk Factors - Risk Factors

Vasculitis can happen at any age. However, some types of vasculitis are more common among people of certain ages.

• Buerger’s disease usually affects men younger than 45 who smoke or have smoked.
• IgA vasculitis is diagnosed more often in children than adults.
• Giant cell arteritis affects adults 50 years and older and is most common in people who are in their 70s and 80s.
• Kawasaki disease affects only children. It is most common in children younger than 5 years.

Your genes are thought to play a role in some types of vasculitis.

• Behçet’s disease is associated with genes involved in the immune system. It sometimes runs in families.
• Granulomatosis with polyangiitis sometimes runs in families.
• Kawasaki disease may run in families.

Your risk for vasculitis is higher if you engage in certain habits, including:

• Smoking
• Using illegal drugs, such as cocaine

The risk of vasculitis is higher if you take certain medicines, including:

• Hydralazine, used to treat high blood pressure
• Levamisole, used for infections, but also added to most cocaine
• Propylthiouracil, used to treat some thyroid disorders
• Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, a treatment for some immune diseases

Vasculitis occurs more often in people with certain conditions, including:

• Autoimmune disorders, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma
• Hepatitis B or C, infections that sometimes trigger vasculitis inflammation
• Lymphoma, a cancer of the blood

Some types of vasculitis are more common among people of certain ethnic backgrounds.

• Behçet’s disease is most common in Turkey and is relatively common in other countries in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Central Asia, China, and Japan. It is relatively uncommon in Northern and Western Europe and the United States.
• Giant cell arteritis is most common in Scandinavia and Minnesota.
• Kawasaki disease is more common among children of Japanese descent.

Some types of vasculitis are more common in men or women.

• Behçet’s disease is more common in men in some countries and more common in women in other countries.
• Buerger’s disease is more common in men.
• Giant cell arteritis affects women two to four times more often than men.
• Microscopic polyangiitis affects men slightly more often than women.