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Vasculitis in Geriatric Patients

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Geriatric Diseases

Abstract

The chapter provides an overview of vasculitis, the prevalence, and mechanisms followed by the clinical management. The incidence of vasculitis is increasing. Of the specific vasculitis, giant cell arteritis of the elderly is the commonest. A useful classification is one based on the size of the vessel, namely, small vessel, small-medium size, and medium to large vessel size affected, although overlap is common. The terms for Wegener’s granulomatosis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, and Henoch-Scholein purpura are changed to granulomatosis with polyangitis (GPA), eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangitis (EGPA), and IgA vasculitis for Wegener’s granulomatosis, Churg-Strauss, and Henoch-Scholein, respectively. There are several mechanisms involved in the vascular inflammation, namely, immune complex disease, antibody-mediated disease, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, and endothelial activation, among others. Vasculitis may be primary or secondary. Any part of the body could be affected. The treatment will be very much determined by a careful evaluation, the cause, the extent, and severity of the disease. In the very elderly, vasculitic syndromes have a bad prognosis, majority deteriorating suddenly leading to death or severe functional impairment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Sydney, Westmead Clinical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia

    Nages Nagaratnam & Kujan Nagaratnam

  2. Rehabilitation and Aged Care Service, Blacktown-Mt Druitt Hospital, Mount Druitt, NSW, Australia

    Gary Cheuk

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  1. Nages Nagaratnam
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  2. Kujan Nagaratnam
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  3. Gary Cheuk
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Nagaratnam, N., Nagaratnam, K., Cheuk, G. (2018). Vasculitis in Geriatric Patients. In: Geriatric Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33434-9_61

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33434-9_61

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33433-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33434-9

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