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The types of vasculitis are distinguished by the type of blood vessel affected ( aorta, large arteries, arterioles, capillaries and veins), the appearance of biopsy tissue of affected organs on light microscopy, and if necessary, with the help of immunohistochemistry (use of monoclonal antibodies against specific inflammatory protein markers).
Other diagnostic tools are the detection of circulating antibodiesantigen An antibody is a protein complex used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects like bacteria and viruses. Each antibody recognizes a specific antigen unique to its target. Antibody structure Antibodies are glycoproteins foun that are associated with forms of vasculitis. While these measurements have a low positive and negative predictive value (due to the high rates of both false positiveA false positive also called false alarm exists when a test reports, incorrectly, that it has found a signal where none exists in reality. Detection algorithms of all kinds have the tendency to create such false alarms. For example, optical character recos and false negativeA false negative also called a miss exists when a test reports, incorrectly, that a signal was not detected when, in fact, was present. For example, radar not detecting an enemy air plane when an enemy air plane was present within the radar scanned area.s), they can direct the clinician to specific causes for vasculitis.
Infectious vasculitis is generally treated with directed antibioticAn antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics are one class of "antimicrobials", a larger group which also includes anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic drugs. They are relatively harmless to the host, and therefors, while autoimmune forms often require treatment with immune suppression: steroidIn chemistry and biology, Steroids are a type of lipid, characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings. Hundreds of distinct steroids have been identified in plants and animals. Their most important role in most living systems is as hormones.s, DMARDs ("steroid-sparing agents") or cyclophosphamide (a mild form of chemotherapy). For very severe forms, bone marrow transplantation is presently being investigated as the ultimate silencing of the immune system.