Vasculitis & Petechia

[Guest guest]

Kim,

You wrote, " Does anyone have problems with Vasculitis (Tiny red dots on

body?) "

There are many reasons that pancreatitis could predispose us to vasculitis,

directly, of course, if someone has autoimmune pancreatitis. However, for the

most part, most of us have altered immune systems, due to the mere sake of

being chronically ill. This places us at risk for this. In addition, long term

malnutrition or anemia can cause vaculitis.

Petechia are actually the tiny areas of superficial bleeding into the skin.

They appear as pinpoint-sized spots that are initially red but turn bluish

purple with time. A petechial rash isn't a disease but a sign or symptom of an

underlying problem, i.e., autoimmune disorders, such as lupus or rheumatoid

arthritis, viral infections, such as mononucleosis and measles (rubella), or

certain medications.

Vasculitis can be one of the underlying conditions of petechia. Vasculitis

simply defined is inflammation (itis) of the blood vessels (Vascul) =

vasculitis. When a small blood vessel does become inflamed, it may break and

produce

tiny areas of bleeding in the tissue. These areas will appear as small red or

purple dots on the skin, known as petechia.

There are two things that cause a blood vessel to become inflamed. 1)

Infection of the blood vessel walls, though this is rare. 2) An immune or

" allergic " reaction in the vessel walls.

Substances which cause allergic reactions are called antigens. Antigens

cause the body to make proteins called antibodies which bind to the antigen for

the purpose of getting rid of it.

Unfortunately, sometimes these bound antigen/antibody [immune] complexes do

not serve their purpose of destroying antigens. Instead, they remain too long

in the body and circulate in the blood and commonly accumulate in blood

vessel walls, where they cause inflammation.

The inflammation cause trigger white blood cells to fight foreign objects in

the blood or blood vessels, such as the embedded antibody/antigen complexes.

Unfortunately, when the tissue in the blood vessel wall can be damaged when

WBC invade it, this can also cause inflammation or vasculitis with resulting

petechia.

For many people, vasculitis, especially if confined to the skin, may be

annoying but never life-threatening. On the other hand, a small number of

people

have severe vasculitis involving major organ systems.

Autoimmune disorders and vasculitis receive a lot of attention in research.

There are currently several clinical trials open. See:

_http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/action/FindCondition?ui=D014657 & recruiting=tru\

e_

(http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/action/FindCondition?ui=D014657 & recruiting=tru\

e)

Karyn E. , RN,

Exec. Director PAI / 1-

KarynWms@...

http://www.pancassociation.org