Cardiovascular System Vasculitis

The heart is frequently affected in vasculitis due to small and medium-sized vessel involvement. Cardiac damages are in connection with coronaritis, myocarditis or pericarditis. The diagnosis is based on anamnesis, physical examination, biological and electrocardiographic findings, imaging techniques. and sometimes on biopsy. MRI is very useful in this early phase to demonstrate the different types of cardiac damage and prognostic information for therapeutic management. The aorta is basically affected in vasculitis involving the large vessel but only Takayasu arteritis causes a thoracic aortic stenosis. Aortic dissection due to intra- and peri-aortic changes can also occur in any part of the vessel. The diagnosis remains largely dependent on cross-sectional imaging techniques and angiography. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18FDG-PET/CT) can detect a wall hyperfixation in the large vessels