ABSTRACT
The term vasculitis describes pathologic inflammation and necrosis of blood vessels. Vasculitis can occur from an unknown cause (idiopathic) or be associated with an established disease (secondary). The etiology of the majority of vasculitides is thought to be either humoral or cellular immune-related injury. The hypersensitivity vasculitides are vasculitic diseases that were reported under a variety of names including cutaneous necrotizing vasculitis, allergic vasculitis, and leukocytoclastic vasculitis. These diseases characteristically have inflammation of small vessels (especially venules) with leukocytoclasis (nuclear debris) and cutaneous skin involvement. The etiology of this vasculitis is unknown and characteristically involves a necrotizing granulomatous process of the respiratory tract along with glomerulonephritis. This disease occurs primarily in young and middle-aged persons, with a slight male predominance. Behcet syndrome is a rare multisystem inflammatory disorder characterized by recurrent oral aphthous ulcers, genital ulcers, uveitis, and skin lesions.
