Vasculitis - what is it? Symptoms of hemorrhagic form of the disease

Surely many have heard of a disease like vasculitis. What is it, know not all, so we offer a brief information about one common form - hemorrhagic.

Vasculitis is a common name for inflammatory processes in blood vessels of different calibres. By origin, they can be primary, that is, independent forms, but are often secondary or symptomatic, that is, syndromes of other diseases, usually systemic lesions of connective tissue.

The causes of the appearance of vasculitis are not fully understood, but their development is associated with an abnormal reaction of the immune system, transferred or present infections, the taking of certain medications. Clear classification does not exist due to the difficulties in differentiating vasculitis. All forms of the disease occur with skin lesions, 80% are characterized by joint syndrome. The process can develop in large and small vessels of any organs.

One of the most frequent species is a typical representative of systemic autoimmune vasculitis - hemorrhagic, which is also called Shenlen-Henoch disease, anaphylactoid purpura, or capillarotoxicosis.

Hemorrhagic vasculitis - what is it?

The disease is more common in children, mostly in boys. With hemorrhagic vasculitis , lesions of the skin, joints, kidneys, digestive organs, and rarely light ones are observed. Only small vessels are involved in the process: capillaries and arterioles.

Disease, as a rule, has an acute onset. Usually this happens 2-3 weeks after the acute respiratory infection. The first sign is skin rashes - purpura. Then articular pain and abdominal (related to the stomach) syndrome occur, later the kidney joins. In most cases, there is a fever, weakness, poor appetite, weight loss. The disease can occur in a chronic form with periodic relapses.

Skin syndrome

Purpura is a typical manifestation of a form such as cutaneous hemorrhagic vasculitis. It is present in all patients. Eruptions have the appearance of sharply outlined papules ranging in size from 1 to 5 mm, which subsequently merge. Elements usually protrude above the skin surface and do not disappear when pressed. The rash is located symmetrically and is localized, as a rule, on the extensor of the extremities, around large joints, on the buttocks and legs. Less often it can be found on the face, back, stomach and chest. After a few days, the rashes turn pale and acquire a brown shade, forming a pigmentation. At the same time next to the old spots appear fresh, making the skin look mottled. The rash is abundant or lean, can last for years.

Joint manifestations

The second most common is the articular syndrome, which accompanies hemorrhagic vasculitis. What it is? Pain in large joints: ankle and knee. Despite severe pain, arthritis with vasculitis is reversible, deformities in the joints are almost not observed.

Abdominal syndrome

In 50% of patients, mainly in children, abdominal syndrome develops , which is expressed in paroxysmal, abrupt pains in the abdomen, more often in the navel. In addition, bloating, vomiting and diarrhea with an admixture of blood are observed. There are cases of surgical complications: intestinal obstruction, intestinal perforation, peritonitis.

Nephrotic syndrome

Kidney signs accompanying vasculitis - what is it? Nephrotic syndrome manifests itself in the form of glomerulonephritis and occurs in 30-60% of patients. It often occurs in the first year of the disease, sometimes after the disappearance of extrarenal manifestations or with another relapse. The main symptom of glomerulonephritis is the presence of blood in the urine.

Hemorrhagic vasculitis in children can occur in severe form in the form of fulminant purpura, in which multiple hemorrhages under the skin, accompanied by fever and arterial hypotension, appear for several hours.