What is vasculitis?

Vasculitis means inflammation of the blood vessels. It can affect any of the body’s blood vessels, causing a variety of symptoms and potential complications. Inflammation causes swelling of the blood vessel walls, reducing or even blocking the flow of blood to tissues and organs.

The amount of damage vasculitis causes depends on which part of the body is affected. The larger the affected blood vessels, the more damage there may be. And the more important the affected body tissue, the more serious the damage will be.

The walls of affected blood vessels can swell and bulge (this is called an aneurysm) and may even burst, causing bleeding inside your body. Apart from the damage to the blood vessel itself, this can lead to damage in the tissues or organs that are supplied by the blood vessel.

Vasculitis can be primary, where it occurs on its own, or secondary, where it occurs with another condition.