What type of vasculitis affects the kidney?
The kidney in particular is affected by small vessel vasculitis (SVV) which may involve the tiny blood vessels in the filtering units of the kidney. Inflammation of these filters is called glomerulonephritis. It is a common cause of a severe but treatable kidney disease called crescentic nephritis, because of the appearance under the microscope. This is also called rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) because of the speed with which it can cause kidney failure.
