Wegener’s granulomatosis, also known as granulomatosis polyegeritis, is a rare and progressive disease that causes inflammation of blood vessels in various parts of the body, causing symptoms such as airway congestion, shortness of breath, skin lesions, nosebleeds, inflammation of the ears, fever, discomfort, loss of appetite or eye irritation.
Being a disease caused by autoimmune alterations, its treatment is mainly done with immune system regulating drugs, such as corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, and although there is no cure, the disease is usually well controlled, allowing a life.Ordinary.
- Wegener’s granulomatosis is part of a group of diseases called vascularitis.
- Characterized by inflammation and damage to blood vessels.
- Which can affect the functioning of several organs.
- To better understand the types of vascularitis that exist and how to identify them.
Some of the main symptoms caused by this disease include
In rare cases, there may also be an alteration of the heart, resulting in pericarditis or damage to the coronary arteries, or also to the nervous system, resulting in neurological symptoms.
In addition, patients with this disease have a greater tendency to develop thrombosis, paying attention to the symptoms that indicate this complication, such as swelling and redness of the extremities.
Treatment of this disease includes the use of medicines that help control the immune system, such as methylprednisolone, prednisolone, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, rituximab or biological therapies.
The antibiotic sulfamethoxazole-triethoprim may be associated with treatment as a means of reducing relapses of certain forms of disease.
To diagnose Wegener’s granulomatosis, your doctor will assess your symptoms and physical exam, which may give the first signs.
Then, to confirm the diagnosis, the main examination consists of performing a biopsy of the affected tissues, which shows changes compatible with necrotizing vascularitis or granulomatous inflammation, tests, such as ANCA antibody measurement, may also be ordered.
In addition, it is important for your doctor to differentiate this disease from others that may have similar manifestations, such as lung cancer, lymphoma, cocaine, or lymphomaid granulomatosis, for example.
The exact causes that lead to the onset of this disease are unknown, however, it is known to be related to changes in immune response, which may be components of the organism itself or external that enter the body.