Pathogenic mechanisms of vessel damage in vasculitis syndromes

The pathogenesis of vasculitis syndromes is via a diverse array of mechanisms that disrupt vessel integrity and produce clinical signs and symptoms of tissue ischemia. In many patients with vasculitis, it is not possible to directly classify the syndrome according to a particular schema, and attempts to define the pathogenic process mediating vessel damage by biopsy and laboratory tests may be useful to guide therapy. The continued use of new techniques to probe immune cell types and cytokines in vasculitis lesional tissues will further clarify molecular mechanisms of vascular damage, and it is hoped that they will lead to new and more effective therapeutic strategies targeted at the vasculitis syndromes.