For a study, it was determined that pulmonary vasculitides were a group of diseases characterized by inflammation and damage of blood vessels in the lungs. GPA, also known as Wegener granulomatosis, was an antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated small-vessel vasculitis that affected a variety of organ systems and was the most frequent of the ANCA-associated vasculitides. GPA affected people of all ages, although it was most frequent in middle-aged individuals. GPA’s typical triad of upper-airway illness (sinusitis, otitis media, ulcerations, tracheobronchial stenosis), lower-respiratory tract disease, and glomerulonephritis were not always obvious at presentation. Multiple, bilateral nodules or masses with cavitation or necrosis were frequent imaging findings of GPA. Diffuse lung opacity due to alveolar hemorrhage or tracheobronchial stenosis was less prevalent causes of tracheobronchial stenosis. When c-ANCA/anti-PR-3 antibodies were detected in the proper clinical context, the diagnosis of systemic GPA was often suggested.
However, the diagnosis of systemic GPA was frequently based on recognition of a combination of characteristic clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings in combination with histopathologic material from a biopsy. Corticosteroid therapy in conjunction with other immunosuppressive medications was the mainstay of GPA treatment.
Reference:journals.lww.com/clinpulm/Abstract/2016/09000/Multifocal_Recurrent_Lung_Opacities_in_a_Renal.7.aspx
