Inflammation of the vessel wall.

  • Infectious
  • Non-infectious

Infectious

  • Most commonly, fungi -- Aspergillus
  • Usually due to systemic infections in immune compromised

Non-infectious

Caused due to autoimmune reactions.

Many specific types are known and they are classified based on their characteristic features, mainly the types of vessels they affect, but in general -- they overlap in their presentation.

Mechanisms

To this day, most vasculitides have an unknown etiology; however, there have been three suggested mechanisms:

  • Immune complex deposition
  • Neutrophil-mediated
  • Anti-endothelial activity

Immune complex deposition

Some vasculitides are caused due to the presence of immune complexes within vessel walls.

  • Types:
    • Drug hypersensitivity
      • In some cases, drugs such as penicillin bind to proteins and act as antigens to which antibodies can bind
    • Secondary to

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