Pathogenesis of vasculitis syndromes

The pathogenesis of vasculitis is complex and involves a variety of mechanisms acting in concert to bring about necrotizing inflammation of blood vessel walls. Ln recent years, there has been considerable progress in dissecting the immunologic abnormalities present in specific vasculitis syndromes. Although the cause of most vasculitis syndromes remains a mystery, recent advances in molecular and cellular immunology have defined many of the effector mechanisms that mediate inflammatory vascular damage.