Many of the blood vessel diseases that vascular surgeons see are due to atherosclerosis (the narrowing and hardening of your arteries), according to Peter Lin, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine. However, blood vessel diseases that are not a result of atherosclerosis are generally diagnosed as the vasculitides, the group of blood vessel diseases that result in the inflammation of blood vessel walls.
Giant Cell Arteritis
This disease is also called temporal arteritis, because it involves the inflammation of one or more branches of a patient's carotid artery, especially of the temporal artery. Women are affected by this disease more than men, with the average age being over 50 years old. Patients may have fever and weight loss, but the most common symptom is that of a severe headache. Treatment is essential, for without it a patient could go blind.
Kawasaki's Disease
This disease is also called mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome. A disease that affects young children, it causes fever, skin changes, the inflammation of a cervical (neck) lymph node and both eyes. But it also causes a vasculitis, an inflammation of an artery. In Kawasaki's, children can develop a vasculitis in a coronary artery of their heart, which can then lead to a coronary artery aneurysm.
Polyarteritis Nodosa
According to Carmen Gota, M.D., Staff Physician at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, this blood vessel disease is rare, as there are only about 33 cases out of every 1 million middle-aged adults. The blood vessels that are affected are usually those in the gastrointestinal tract (stomach and intestines), kidneys and muscles. Patients will usually have abdominal pain, muscle aches and weakness, but they may also have other symptoms, dependent upon which blood vessel is inflamed.
Microscopic Polyangiitis
This vasculitis is similar to polyarteritis nodosa, but this disease involves the small blood vessels; that is, the capillaries, venules and arterioles. In microscopic polyangiitis, the inflammation of blood vessels in a patient's lungs can cause a hemorrhage in the lungs. If the inflammation in the kidney's blood vessels is not treated, the patient could have kidney failure.
Churg-Strauss Syndrome
Dr. Gota writes that Churg-Strauss is a vasculitis that usually affects a patient's lungs, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, heart and skin. Similar to polyarteritis nodosa, it is a rare disease, affecting approximately 3 people out of every 1 million, with the average age of 48 years old. Patients can develop this blood vessel disease if they have severe asthma. Symptoms can include fever, abdominal pain, weight loss and skin lesions.
Wegener's Granulomatosis
Wegener's granulomatosis is a vasculitis that causes an inflammation in the capillaries of the kidneys, called a glomerulonephritis, and causes granulomas in the lungs. Granulomas are groups of white blood cells which have changed form, and are surrounded by some of the other cells that make up someone's immune system. Patients may have an infection of the ear and sinuses, have difficulty breathing and spit up blood. The kidneys can become so affected that if untreated, it can lead to kidney failure.
References
- "Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2009"; Stephen McPhee, M.D., Maxine Papadakis, M.D.; 2009
- "Schwartz's Principles of Surgery"; F. Charles Brunicardi, M.D.; 2010
- The Merck Manual: Churg-Strauss Syndrome
- The Merck Manual: Polyarteritis Nodosa
