Primary Childhood Vasculitis | Research

Chronic primary vasculitis describes a group of rare, life-threatening diseases that have in common inflammation of blood vessels in vital organs such as kidneys, lungs and brain.

The challenge in treating children with vasculitis is balancing the risk of under treating aggressive disease with the potential damaging side-effects of prolonged use of drugs.

This project uses an established international web-based registry to collect clinical information from 50 or more centers worldwide, with approximately 20 centres contributing paired biological samples (DNA, RNA, plasma, serum, urine). The goal is to elucidate subclinical (molecular/cellular) features which help to classify, define and direct optimal treatment for children with vasculitis.

Subtypes of primary vasculitis classified by affected vessel size (Source: vasculitisfoundation.org)

Pathogenic consequences of vasculitis on vascular structure (Source: vasculitisfoundation.org)

The Pediatric Vasculitis Initiative (PedVas)

The PedVas study is an international study, headed by Drs. David Cabral, Kimberly Morishita and Kelly Brown, that is based at BC Children’s Hospital and includes collaborators in Canada, the USA, and various countries across the globe. The program is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; Team Grant 2012 and Project Grant 2022) and supports various projects that aim to improve the mechanistic understanding, assessment, management, and ultimately outcomes for children with chronic vasculitis.