ABSTRACT
The cardiovascular system's role is to pump around a constantly circulating fluid which provides the body with oxygen and other nutrients, and removes waste. The beneficial effects are sodium retention and increased systemic venous tone, which increases central venous pressure, venous return to the heart, and cardiac output. Massive or prolonged release of soluble tissue factors and/or endothelial-derived thromboplastins into the circulation causes generalized activation of the coagulation system. Most systemic arterial emboli arise from the left side of the heart associated with myocardial infarction, dilated cardiomyopathy, cardiac failure, and cardiac arrhythmias, especially atrial fibrillation. Behcet's disease is a multisystem disease of unknown aetiology characterized by chronic relapsing orogenital ulcers, uveitis, and systemic involvement, including articular, gastrointestinal, cardiopulmonary, neurological, and vascular pathology. Churg–Strauss syndrome is a necrotizing systemic vasculitis with extravascular granulomas and eosinophilic infiltrates of small vessels. Central nervous system vasculitis affects the brain and sometimes the spinal cord.
