Polyarteritis Nodosa - Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN)occurs when the arteritis swells due to some damage. Primarily the effect is on the small and medium arteries but it can also become serious when it occurs in the blood vessels caused due to malfunction of the immune system. If you suffer from any such complication then you must visit the doctor before the symptoms become chronic.

Polyarteritis Nodosa can also cause a severe effect on your central nervous system thus affecting all your organs. The symptoms include:

• Fever
• muscle and joint pain
• abdominal pain
• excessive fatigue
• sudden weight loss
• decrease of appetite

The cause of PAN (Polyarteritis nodosa) is not known completely but it is classified as an autoimmune disorder and one of the reasons for occurrence for PAN is when natural defense system attacks healthy tissues by mistake. Sometimes PAN is It also associated with hepatitis B and hepatitis c infection.

Polyarteritis Nodosa can affect the nervous system of your body and 70 percent of people may get affected due to this. PAN can also lead to seizure and neurological issues if not treated on time.

It also includes a reduction in alertness and cognitive dysfunction of the body. In this skin lesions also become common during PAN and mainly affects the skin of hands and legs, which can be very painful.

There is no specific test for diagnosing Polyarteritis Nodosa. Doctor will include symptoms, will talk about the detailed history of the disease, physical examination, laboratory tests, and image studies.

Laboratory testing includes blood test, urinalysis and it also helps diagnosis of PAN.

• Imaging: If the doctor suspects PAN an X-ray and an angiogram is done while injecting a contrast agent which helps in diagnosis. Narrowing of blood vessels can be detected by angiogram. CTA or MRA are also used for looking the changes in the blood vessel.
• Biopsy: in this biopsy of affected tissue is done and it is surgically removed. After which analysis of tissue is done and also sample taken from affected blood vessel or organ confirms the diagnosis completely. Most of the biopsies for PAN are taken from skin, nerve or muscle tissue.

The most common treatment for Polyarteritis nodosa is the combination of drugs that are being prescribed, include: Corticosteroid, antiviral medications, immune suppressants.

These medications help reduce the symptoms of PAN by reducing inflammation as they replace certain hormones in the body.

A corticosteroid helps to keep your arteries safe by keeping the immune system away so that they cannot keep damaging the arteries but they must be taken in combination with immunosuppressive medications.

Comparable medicines like methotrexate, azathioprine or mycophenolate that let the steroid dosage to be reduced too are put into use. If the condition is particularly severe Cyclophosphamide is put into use.

There are a number of complications associated with polyarteritis nodosa which are inclusive of the following:

• Heart attacks may result from polyarteritis nodosa.
• Perforation and necrosis of the intestines may also result from polyarteritis nodosa.
• Kidney failure is yet another common complication.
• Strokes may also occur due to the disease.

A genetic predisposition of Polyarteritis nodosa is still not known. In the majority of cases, the etiology is unknown.