Vasculitis laboratory findings

Vasculitis
Overview
Classification Large-sized vessel vasculitis Takayasu's Arteritis Temporal Arteritis Medium-sized vessel vasculitis Kawasaki's Disease Polyarteritis Nodosa Small-sized vessel vasculitis Churg-Strauss Syndrome Cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis Essential cryoglobulinemic vasculitis Henoch-Schonlein Purpura Microscopic polyangiitis Wegener's Granulomatosis Variable-sized vessel vasculitis Sjogren syndrome Cogan syndrome Single organ vasculitis Primary central nervous system angiitis
Causes
Differential Diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor-In-Chief: M.Umer Tariq [2]

Laboratory Findings

Basic lab tests may include a

• CBC - leukocytosis, eosinophilia > 10%
• Chem-7 (look for creatinine) - Elevated serum BUN (> 40 mg/dL) or serum creatinine (> 1.5 mg/dL)
• Muscle enzyme
• Liver function tests
• ESR - elevated ESR ≥ 50 mm/hour Westergren in temporal arteritis
• Hepatitis seroloties
• Urinalysis - microscopic hematuria or RBC casts in Wegener's granulomatosis

Additional, more specific tests include:

• Antinuclear antibody (ANA) test can detect an underlying connective tissue disorder, especially SLE
• Complement levels that are low can suggest mixed cryoglobulinemia, hepatitis C infection, and SLE, but not most other vasculitides.
• Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) may highly suggest Wegener's granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, or drug-induced vasculitis, but is not diagnostic.