Vasculitis - what is this disease and how to comprehensively influence the body in this pathology?
Vascular damage
Blood vessels due to various negative factors can lose their functions, which affects the state of the whole organism.
Systemic vasculitis is a disease that is associated with pathological changes in the walls of blood vessels. At the present stage, several types of this disease are distinguished.
Types of systemic disease
Studied types of pathological changes in blood vessels:
- The defeat of individual segments of arteries of medium or small caliber is called nodular periarthritis.
- A disease that primarily affects the arteries and vessels of the respiratory tract and lungs, and only then the kidneys, is defined as Wegener's granulomatosis.
- Systemic vasculitis, the symptoms of which indicate the pathology of the large vessels of the body (more often the arteries of the head), was called giant cell temporal arteritis.
- Inflammatory processes in large arteries and aorta are defined as Takayasu's disease, or aortoarteritisnon-specific.
- When the pathology concerns the arteries of the muscular type, then the disease is defined as thromboangiitis obliterans.
- A systemic disease that is accompanied by symptoms such as stomatitis, pathological changes in the tissues of the oral cavity and genital mucosa, as well as changes in the eye, is called "Behçet's syndrome".
- Allergic vasculitis.
All of the above forms are associated with certain causes that provoke changes in the walls of blood vessels and a violation of their functions.
Causes of disease
To determine the course of rational treatment and preventive measures, it is necessary to know what causes this or that pathological change in the vessel. In this case, systemic vasculitis may have a favorable outcome for the patient.
All the factors that provoke the occurrence of this pathology have not been thoroughly studied, but several reasons can be assumed:
- Systemic vasculitis as a reaction of the body to the use of certain drugs. A pathological change in the walls of blood vessels can also provoke a viral disease that has not been cured for a long time.
- Systemic vasculitis as a complication of some aggressive infectious diseases that have been transferred.
- Blood vessels can be destroyed during diseases such as reactive arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory processes in the thyroidgland, chronic autoimmune pathologies, Schwartz-Jampel syndrome, and sometimes glomerulonephritis.
All these factors determine systemic vasculitis. Symptoms and treatment of pathology are not always interconnected, because some manifestations of the disease are latent, while others, on the contrary, push for the conclusion of an incorrect diagnosis.
What happens in the body? Pathogenesis
Pathology of the vascular system entails dangerous changes in the body, which manifest themselves at different stages of the disease. The bottom line is that the inflammatory process captures the vessels, followed by the destruction of their walls.
Each presented type of vasculitis has its own characteristics.
What changes does each species bring?
- In Behçet's syndrome, there are manifestations in the oral cavity, in particular stomatitis, which occurs with relapses. The second frequent symptom is ulcers in the scrotum in men, and in women - in the vagina and on the external genitalia. In addition to the mucous membrane, this type of vasculitis affects the eyeballs to varying degrees.
- Thromboangiitis obliterans is accompanied by such complaints of patients as the development of lameness or sudden numbness of the hands.
- Aortoarteritis non-specific causes pain in the lower and upper extremities, back pain that radiates to the abdomen, as well as fainting and eye disorders.
Other forms, depending on the severity, practically do not differ in symptoms, but require an individual approach in treatment.
Symptomatic picture
Symptomatics of vascular disease can change its picture, depending on the localization of the process and the pathology that accompanies them.
Skin vasculitis causes rashes, and pathological disorders in the nervous system entail hypersensitivity, which can vary from hypersensitivity to reduced sensitivity or its complete absence.
When the blood circulation of the vessels of the brain is disturbed, strokes and heart attacks can occur. Allergic vasculitis manifests itself as a typical allergic reaction of the body to an irritant.
Signs of vascular pathology
There are known common signs of any kind of vasculitis, these are:
- complete or partial loss of appetite;
- weakness of the body that appears for no reason and is accompanied by apathy;
- rapid fatigue, both physical and mental;
- high body temperature - subfebrile, only sometimes reaches febrile;
- pallor of the skin associated with a violation of the general blood flow in the body.
What other course does systemic vasculitis have? What kind of disease it is and how to resist it, you can find out by some common signs. For example, the nodular type of vasculitis is manifested by muscle aching pains throughout the body. Pain spreads to the abdomen, provokes weight loss, intestinal disorders, vomiting, nausea and, as a result, mentaldisorders.
Wegner's granulomatosis provokes pathologies in the nasal cavity, more precisely, in its sinus - pus, blood and mucus are released. Ulcerative processes may occur on the nasal mucosa. Then there is a cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, kidney failure and others.
Skin lesion
When pathological processes in the vessels are caused by an allergic reaction, then this type is called skin vasculitis. How do skin vasculitis progress?
The presented disease has several types of course:
- type one - nodular necrotic, or Werther-Dumling, manifested by dermal nodes on the skin of a cyanotic color with a brown tint;
- the second is Ruiter's allergic arteriolitis, which is manifested by typical erythematous skin rashes, as well as hemorrhagic crusts, ulcers, erosions, followed by necrosis.
Diagnosis of systemic vascular disease
The choice of diagnostic methods should be based on the external manifestations of vasculitis, but to determine its hidden forms, additional measures are taken in the examination.
First, a potential patient needs to take a blood test to determine changes in it. When the quantitative indicators of hemoglobin are significantly below the norm, this indicates the beginning of anemic processes in the body - a severe complication of vascular pathology.
Rarely, but it happens when the diagnosis of "systemic vasculitis" is made on the basis of a urine test, if red blood cells are found in itand white blood cells.
The second most important analysis, but no less important for diagnosis, is a biopsy. For this purpose, a part of the vessel tissue must be taken from the patient for microscopic examination.
Systemic vasculitis. Symptoms and treatment
Depending on whether it is allergic or secondary vasculitis, treatment is prescribed individually, and it is aimed not only at treating a specific pathology, but also at restoring the whole organism, which has suffered significantly against the background of vascular pathology.
The goal of treatment is to completely eliminate the symptoms of the disease, normalize the functioning of blood vessels and blood circulation.
Drugs that work for systemic vasculitis:
- corticosteroid drugs;
- chemotherapeutic drugs;
- immunosuppressants.
More aggressive vasculitis requires intensive care and treatment. This is necessary in case of disruption of vital organs such as the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys. In this case, the patient is resuscitated, followed by symptomatic treatment.
Skin vasculitis should be treated on an outpatient basis or in a hospital, depending on the progressiveness of the pathological process. With this disease, the impact of radical sanitation on the focus of infection, which is already in the chronic stage, will be effective.
The patient should stay in bed and take the following drugs:
- antihistamines, includingeffective for vasculitis will be drugs "Diprazin", "Dimedrol", "Fenkarol";
- calcium trace element preparations - 10% injection of calcium chloride or gluconate solution;
- rutin, ascorbic acid.
When ineffective, more complex treatments are used using hormonal drugs, such as the drugs Prednisolone and Dexamethasone.
When the disease is accompanied by ulcerative and necrotic processes, the treatment includes topical application of glucocorticoid ointment (ointment "Borno-naftalan", "Methyluracil" and others), epithelioplastic preparations.
With prolonged but ineffective treatment, angiotrophic agents are used. These are "Dobesilate-calcium", "Xanthinol nicotinate" and others.
What is the prognosis for this disease?
Prognosis depends on the type of vasculitis and the severity of the disease. Early diagnosis and timely treatment can significantly prolong the life of the patient. It is very important to correctly diagnose and develop an optimal treatment regimen. It is necessary to correctly select medications and dosage in order to avoid complications and side effects.
It is impossible to predict in advance the outcome of a disease such as systemic vasculitis. Treatment is likely to be lifelong. Usually the disease proceeds in a chronic form, and periods of exacerbation are replaced by periods of remission. The disease vasculitis most often is not completely cured. Man is constantly forcedvisit a doctor and control symptoms.
