What is vasculitis?

Vasculitis occurs when there is inflammation of your blood vessels. This makes your blood vessels swell and become narrower, which may cause:

• ischemia (less blood flow to part of the body)
• necrosis (tissue death)
• thrombosis (blood clots)

There are many types of vasculitis, most of which are quite rare. Vasculitis can affect large, medium or small blood vessels.

Types of vasculitis include:

• temporal (giant cell) arteritis — affects the large arteries in your head and neck. It’s most common in adults over 50 years of age.
• Kawasaki disease — affects the medium size arteries in your skin and lymph nodes. It mostly affects children under 5 years of age.
• Henoch-Schonlein purpura — affects the medium sized arteries in many parts of your body including your kidneys and skin. It’s most common in children and can be caused by your body reacting to an infection.

What are the symptoms of vasculitis?

Symptoms can vary, depending on the type of vasculitis.

Common symptoms of vasculitis are:

• fatigue (tiredness)
• fever (a temperature of 38℃ or higher)
• muscle or joint pain
• poor appetite
• weight loss

Other symptoms can occur in different parts of your body, such as:

• skin — rash, sores or red spots
• lungs — dyspnoea (shortness of breath), pneumonia (lung infection) or coughing up blood
• eyes — blurred vision, sensitivity to light or redness
• digestive tract — diarrhoea, abdominal (tummy) pain or vomiting
• sinuses — nasal congestion (blocked nose), nosebleeds or sinus pain
• brain — headaches, confusion or muscle weakness
• nerves — numbness, tingling or weakness

CHECK YOUR SYMPTOMS — Use the Symptom Checker and find out if you need to seek medical help.

What causes vasculitis?

Vasculitis can be caused by:

• autoimmune disorders — when your immune system attacks your body’s own cells, tissues and organs
• allergy or hypersensitivity to medicines or irritants in the environment
• viruses or parasitic infections

In most cases the cause of vasculitis is not known.

When should I see my doctor?

It’s important to see your doctor if you think you have vasculitis, as early treatment can help prevent long-term damage.

Once diagnosed you should see your doctor regularly to check how you are going, as vasculitis can get better and worse over time.

When should I seek urgent care?

Get urgent care if you have:

• blurred vision or vision loss
• night sweats
• pins and needles or numbness
• jaw pain when eating
• blood in your stool (poo)

Some types of vasculitis can cause serious complications like stroke and blindness. It’s important to get treatment quickly to lower your chance of complications.

FIND A HEALTH SERVICE — The Service Finder can help you find doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and other health services.

How is vasculitis diagnosed?

Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and examine you. Your doctor may also refer you for tests, including:

• blood and urine tests
• CT scans or MRI scan
• angiography (a medical test that examines your blood vessels)

To confirm the diagnosis your doctor may also recommend a biopsy. This involves collecting a small piece of tissue to be looked at under a microscope. This can help your doctor know if you have inflamed blood vessels.

It can be difficult to diagnose vasculitis because the symptoms are often like other illnesses. Your doctor may refer you to a specialist, such as a rheumatologist, to confirm the diagnosis.

ASK YOUR DOCTOR — Preparing for an appointment? Use the Question Builder for general tips on what to ask your GP or specialist.

How is vasculitis treated?

The treatment for vasculitis depends on the cause.

Medicines for vasculitis

If vasculitis is due to an autoimmune condition, medicines can help to control the symptoms. This can often lead to remission (when symptoms become less severe or disappear).

If vasculitis is caused by an infection, medicines can help to treat the infection. You will also need medicines to manage the vasculitis.

Medicines for vasculitis include:

• corticosteroids to reduce inflammation
• medicines that lower your immune response (for example, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate or azathioprine)
• biologic medicines that lower your immune response (for example, rituximab)

You may need to take medicines for vasculitis for a long time. This can cause side effects, for example, you may be less able to fight infection.

Talk to your doctor about getting the influenza, pneumonia, and shingles vaccines. Regular vaccination can help lower your chance of getting sick.

Talk to your doctor about how to reduce the side effects of your medicines.

To search medicines by active ingredient or brand name, use the healthdirect medicines search feature.

LOOKING FOR A MEDICINE? — To search by brand name or active ingredient, use the Medicines information search feature.

Other treatments for vasculitis

In some cases, vasculitis may not improve with medicine. A different type of treatment is plasma exchange. This is a procedure that removes components of the blood that may be harming your blood vessels.

What are the complications of vasculitis?

If you have vasculitis that is not treated you may have complications. The complications depend on the type of vasculitis you have and how severe it is.

Complications can include:

• heart problems
• organ damage
• blood clots
• kidney failure
• blindness
• stroke

Resources and support

Talk to your doctor if you have questions about vasculitis.

The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) has information about vasculitis disorders.

You can call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.