Life-threatening purpura and vasculitis

Palpable purpura, the inflammation of blood vessels is the hallmark of vasculitis. It can be observed in a variety of settings, where vessels can be affected primarily or as a secondary event. Every patient with vasculitis should be considered to have a systemic disease unless proven otherwise. One or more systemic symptoms occur in at least 50% of patients and there is no way to predict systemic involvement. Patients may demonstrate mild systemic involvement like arthralgia and arthritis, fever and malaise or more severe symptoms such as massive proteinuria and raised creatinine leading to chronic renal failure, severe intestinal bleeding or perforation with a fatal outcome. In this article we will review the life-threatening aspects of purpura and vasculitis. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.