What is urticarial vasculitis?
Urticarial vasculitis is a variant of cutaneous vasculitis. It is characterised by inflamed and reddened patches or weals on the skin that appear to resemble urticaria, but when the skin is examined closely under a microscope, vasculitis is found (inflamed blood vessels). Urticarial vasculitis is generally classified as two types, normocomplementaemic and hypocomplementaemic (normal or lowered levels of complement proteins found on blood testing). Although both types may be associated with systemic symptoms such as angioedema, abdominal or chest pain, fever, and joint pain, this is more apparent in the hypocomplementaemic form. This form has also been linked to the connective tissue disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
