Diagnosis of cutaneous vasculitis

Vasculitis represent a broad spectrum of disorders involving vessels of different types and characterized by various clinical manifestations. The diagnosis of cutaneous vasculitis is usually easy and based on clinical and histological features. A number of classification systems of vasculitis have been proposed. In this review we define small vessel necrotizing vasculitis, large vessel necrotizing vasculitis, overlap syndromes and miscellaneous vasculitis. This classification for diagnostic purposes is more than an academic interest because prognostic and therapeutic differences can be demonstrated among these various groups of vasculitis.