Medium vessel vasculitides (classification, pathomechanism, symptoms, treatment)

1. Big picture

Medium-vessel vasculitides mainly affect muscular arteries: vessels large enough to cause organ ischemia, aneurysms, infarction, neuropathy, hypertension, and abdominal pain, but not primarily capillaries.

For the final exam, think mainly of:

1. Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) — necrotizing vasculitis of medium arteries; renal/mesenteric/nerve/skin involvement; no glomerulonephritis, no pulmonary capillaritis, usually ANCA-negative.
2. Kawasaki disease (KD) — childhood medium-vessel vasculitis; fever + mucocutaneous signs; dangerous because of coronary artery aneurysms.

The uploaded question file emphasizes the core classification point: medium-sized vessels are affected by Kawasaki disease and polyarteritis nodosa.

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