Chapter 15 Vasculitis
Blood vessels play an important part in all inflammatory conditions but there are a number of disorders in which the vessels are the primary site of the inflammatory process, and the term vasculitis is used specifically for these. The vasculitides are classified according to the size of vessel involved (Fig. 3.15.1), the clinicopathological features of the disease and whether there is evidence of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). There is considerable overlap among the diagnostic entities, and classification depends on many factors, including patient age, clinical symptoms and signs, ANCA status and pathological changes in biopsies.
