The Importance of Recognizing Vasculitis Mimics

In this video, Tanaz A. Kermani, MD, explains the importance of recognizing vasculitis mimics, including the potential harm in not recognizing a mimic and instead misdiagnosing a patient with vasculitis.

Tanaz A. Kermani, MD, is the founder and director of the multidisciplinary Vasculitis Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. There, she also serves as the associate clinical professor in the Division of Rheumatology. 

Additional Resource:

Maningding E, Kermani TA. Mimics of vasculitis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021;60(1):34-47. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/keaa495 

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, my name is Tanaz Kermani. I'm an associate clinical professor in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and also the director of our vasculitis program.

Our topic for today is mimics. We're going to start out with why it's important to recognize mimics and what the potential harms are if we miss a mimic and diagnose a patient with vasculitis instead.

The appropriate evaluation of any suspected vasculitis needs consideration of mimics. This is especially important when considering patients who may have things like infections, vasculopathies, other noninflammatory conditions, like atherosclerosis, that can look like vasculitis.

One of the reasons this is important is we don't want to give people an incorrect diagnosis of vasculitis. That is just as harmful as missing a diagnosis of vasculitis.

Firstly, it exposes the patients to the harms of unnecessary immunosuppressive therapy. In the case of a mimic-like infection, if that's missed, the immunosuppression can also have harmful consequences. Finally, it delays the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of a patient who has a mimic of vasculitis.