Arteritis
Encyclopedia
Arteritis is inflammation
Inflammation
Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...

 of the walls of arteries
Artery
Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. This blood is normally oxygenated, exceptions made for the pulmonary and umbilical arteries....

, usually as a result of infection
Infection
An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...

 or auto-immune response.

Types

Some disorders have arteritis as their main feature. The major types are given in the table below:
Comparison of major types of arteritis
Arteritis Affected organs Histopathology
Histopathology
Histopathology refers to the microscopic examination of tissue in order to study the manifestations of disease...

Takayasu's arteritis
Takayasu's arteritis
Takayasu's arteritis is a form of large vessel granulomatous vasculitis with massive intimal fibrosis and vascular narrowing affecting often young or middle-aged women of Asian descent...

 
Aorta and arch
Aortic arch
The arch of the aorta or the transverse aortic arch is the part of the aorta that begins at the level of the upper border of the second sternocostal articulation of the right side, and runs at first upward, backward, and to the left in front of the trachea; it is then directed backward on the left...

 branches
Histiocytes, giant cells
Giant cell arteritis, also often called temporal arteritis (although these differ slightly) superficial temporal artery
Superficial temporal artery
In human anatomy, the superficial temporal artery is a major artery of the head. It arises from the external carotid artery when it bifurcates into the superficial temporal artery and maxillary artery....

, other medium- and large-sized vessels, e.g. the ones supplying the head
Head
In anatomy, the head of an animal is the rostral part that usually comprises the brain, eyes, ears, nose and mouth . Some very simple animals may not have a head, but many bilaterally symmetric forms do....

, eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...

s and optic nerve
Optic nerve
The optic nerve, also called cranial nerve 2, transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. Derived from the embryonic retinal ganglion cell, a diverticulum located in the diencephalon, the optic nerve doesn't regenerate after transection.-Anatomy:The optic nerve is the second of...

s
Lymphocytes, macrophages, and multinucleated giant cell
Giant cell
A giant cell is a mass formed by the union of several distinct cells . It can arise in response to an infection or foreign body.Types include:* foreign-body giant cell* Langhans giant cell* Touton giant cells...

s
Polyarteritis nodosa
Polyarteritis nodosa
Polyarteritis nodosa is a vasculitis of medium & small-sized arteries, which become swollen and damaged from attack by rogue immune cells. Polyarteritis nodosa is also called Kussmaul disease or Kussmaul-Maier disease...

 
CNS
Central nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...

, PNS damage
Peripheral neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy is the term for damage to nerves of the peripheral nervous system, which may be caused either by diseases of or trauma to the nerve or the side-effects of systemic illness....

, kidneys, GI tract
Gastrointestinal tract
The human gastrointestinal tract refers to the stomach and intestine, and sometimes to all the structures from the mouth to the anus. ....

, skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscle is a form of striated muscle tissue existing under control of the somatic nervous system- i.e. it is voluntarily controlled. It is one of three major muscle types, the others being cardiac and smooth muscle...

, heart
Neutrophils, fibrinoid necrosis
Fibrinoid necrosis
Fibrinoid necrosis is a form of necrosis, or tissue death, in which there is accumulation of amorphous, basic, proteinaceous material in the tissue matrix with a staining pattern reminiscent of fibrin. It is associated with conditions such as immune vasculitis Fibrinoid necrosis is a form of...



Furthermore, there are many conditions that have vasculitis as an accompanying or atypical symptom, including arteritis caused by the fungal pathogen Candida albicans
Candida albicans
Candida albicans is a diploid fungus that grows both as yeast and filamentous cells and a causal agent of opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans. Systemic fungal infections including those by C...

.
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