Vasculitis Foundation Canada

(Formerly Wegener’s Granulomatosis Support Group of Canada)

Our mission is summarized by our motto:

 Care - Control - Cause - Cure

We assist vasculitis patients, and their families, with information, and support, to help them develop a strong and positive outlook so as to improve the care and control of their vasculitis.  We encourage, support and fund research efforts into the cause and cure of all forms of vasculitis.

A family of 26 diseases - more common, and more serious, than you think!

Vasculitis is a family of about 26 separate, but related, diseases within the larger family of about 115 arthritic diseases. Vasculitis diseases are considered rare diseases, and affect people of all ages, gender and ethnicity, they are not contagious or hereditary.

Vasculitis is an inflammation of the wall of blood vessels, arteries, veins, or capillaries.  When such inflammation occurs, it causes changes in the blood vessel wall such as weakening and narrowing that can progress to the point of blood vessel blockage or hemorrhage.  Vasculitis can cause tissues and organs to be starved of blood which can result in irreversible tissue and organ damage, and can even lead to death.  There is no known cause or cure for the primary types of vasculitis.  Vasculitis is classified according to the size and location of the affected blood vessels.

Large Vessel Vasculitis 

1-Takayasu Arteritis (TAK)  2-Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA)

Medium Vessel Vasculitis

3-Polyarteritis Nodosa (PAN)  4-Kawasaki Disease (KD)

Small Vessel Vasculitis - ANCA associated vasculitis

5-Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA)

6-Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (Wegener’s)(GPA)

7-Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss) (EGPA)

Immune Complex Vasculitis

8-Anti–glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease

9-Cryoglobulinemic Vasculitis (CV) 10-IgA vasculitis (Henoch-Schönlein) (IgAV)

11-Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis (HUV) (anti-C1q vasculitis)

Variable Vessel Vasculitis

12-Behçet’s Disease (BD)  13-Cogan’s Syndrome (CS)

Single-Organ Vasculitis

14-Cutaneous leukocytoclastic angiitis

15-Cutaneous arteritis16-Primary central nervous system vasculitis  17-Isolated aortitis

Vasculitis Associated with Systemic Disease

18-Lupus vasculitis  19-Rheumatoid vasculitis 20-Sarcoid vasculitis

Vasculitis Associated with Probable Etiology

21-Hepatitis C virus–associated cryoglobulinemic vasculitis 

22-Hepatitis B virus–associated vasculitis

23-Syphilis-associated aortitis 24-Drug-associated immune complex vasculitis

25-Drug-associated ANCA-associated vasculitis  26-Cancer-associated vasculitis

For more information,

please call 1 877 572-9474, email: contact@vasculitis.ca or visit www.vasculitis.ca

Care  Control  Cause  Cure