A Forum for Vasculitis Researchers from East to West, from Bench to Clinic

Is vasculitis research important? Do we need an open access journal for vasculitis? The answers to both questions are yes, vasculitis research is important and we need an open access journal for vasculitis and only vasculitis. But why and how? The vasculitides represent a wide range of diseases, from vasculitis involving skin only to systemic large vessel arteritis without any superficial signs. This group of diseases are highlydiverse and some are rare with an annual incidence between 1/10, 000 to1/1,000,000. This disease term may arouse fear in not only patients but also general practicing physicians. Some vasculitis such as Henoch-Schonlein purpura is relatively common and self-limited; while some vasculitis like anti-neutrophil antibody associated vasculitis (AAV) is rare but associated with severe consequences. In clinical practice, vasculitis can be difficult to be diagnosed. 

For example, patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) can present with sinus, lung, kidney or nervous system involvements. Due to the diversity and highly variable responses to treatment of some vasculitis, the learning curve progress slowly.The clinical diagnosis of vasculitis relies on a constellation of clinical manifestations, serologic markers and pathology study. The sensitivity and specificity of classification/diagnosis criteria can be influenced by local disease incidence and prevalence.To understand the economic burden of disease, epidemiology study can provide some valuable insights. However, the distribution map of vasculitides is largely unfilled. One of the famous examples that shows the importance of epidemiology studies is the Sily Road disease-Behcet’s disease, which distributes mainly from Turkey to Japan, implies the impact of population migration or even a transmissible pathogen; we need more evidence to confirm these disease spread model. Read more......................