title: Working classification of vasculitis.
abstract: Vasculitis is defined as angiocentric segmental inflammation of the blood vessels and fibrinoid necrosis of the vessel wall. Classification of vasculitis is a controversial problem, because of the difficulty in incorporating globally different criteria such as histologic features, size of affected blood vessels, etiology, pathogenesis and other factors in a single classification schema. In this paper we review the principal classifications and make a novel attempt to classify vasculitis on the basis of the size of affected vessels. We hope that a new generation of basic and clinical investigators can achieve a better understanding of the pathogenesis of various vasculitis-related syndromes and that this understanding will facilitate future classification schemas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ghersetich
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Jorizzo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lotti
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009336:Necrosis; D017445:Skin Diseases, Vascular / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000145:classification* / Q000473:pathology