Vasculitis and vasculopathies

Abstract

Vasculitis is inflammation that occurs initially and primarily within the vascular wall. Cutaneous vasculitis can be limited to the skin, such as cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) or IgA vasculitis, or reflect a systemic disease (such as systemic PAN or Henoch-Schönlein purpura) and is then an important diagnostic symptom. The clinical picture of the various cutaneous vasculitides is markedly influenced by the size of the mainly affected vessels. In the skin the vasculitides of the small vessels and among them the various immune complex vasculitides are the most frequent. The chapter describes all vasculitides with skin symptoms including therapy. Vasculopathies with partial or complete occlusion of the vessel lumen are the result of embolism or thrombotic occlusion or slowed blood flow, or a pathological change in the vessel wall not caused by vasculitis. Clinically, they are almost all associated with livedo or retiform purpura. The chapter lists the different causes as well as the most important clinical and histological signs.