5TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY, KOLKATA, 29TH & 30TH SEPTEMBER 2007

Seza Ozen,
MD Professor,
Department of Pediatrics, Unit for Nephrology and Rheumatology
Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine
Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey

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Vasculitis is the inflammation of blood vessels. The classification and diagnosis of vasculitis continue to pose a problem for rheumatologists. Recently a group of paediatricians have attempted to revise the classification criteria for childhood vasculitis based on vessel size involvement. Certain vasculitic syndromes are disease of the young age and some present specific features in children. The suggested criteria for these diseases is hoped to be widely accepted around the world, based on the reliable techniques used and the international and multispecialist composition of the expert group involved.

We still need more data to understand the etiopathology of vasculitides and we need multicenter prospective studies to have evidence based data for how to treat our patients. In the future, pediatricians should undertake multinational studies similar to those planned by our internist colleagues in Europe.

5th National Conference of Pediatric Rheumatology - Conference Abstracts. Pediatric Oncall [serial online] 2007 [cited 15 December 2007(Supplement 12)];4. Available from:
http://www.pediatriconcall.com/fordoctor/Conference_abstracts/ncpr/
vasculitis.asp