Vascular Disease

Like the arteries in your heart, the arteries outside your heart (peripheral arteries) can also develop disease. Over time, these arteries can become narrowed or blocked, which reduces blood flow to important areas of the body. This lack of blood flow is called ischemia, and it can damage tissues and organs if not treated.

Types of peripheral arterial disease include:

• Atherosclerosis: Atherosclerosis is a type of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). It happens when plaque made of fat, cholesterol, and other substances builds up inside the artery walls. When this narrowing affects arteries in the legs or arms, it can lead to PVD.
• Peripheral vascular disease (PVD): Blockage in the arteries that can affect the legs, which can lead to gangrene and limb loss. PVD can affect all organ systems in the body.
• Intestinal ischemic syndrome: Blockage in the arteries to the gastrointestinal system.
• Renal artery disease: Blockage in the kidney arteries, potentially causing kidney failure.
• Raynaud's phenomenon: Spasms in the small arteries of the fingers or toes triggered by cold or stress.

These conditions affect the two main carotid arteries in your neck:

• Carotid artery disease: A blockage or narrowing in the arteries that supply blood to your brain, which can cause a mini-stroke (TIA) or stroke.
• Carotid artery dissection: A tear in one of the artery's layers, allowing blood to leak between the layers.
• Carotid body tumors: Growths in the nerve tissue around your carotid artery.
• Carotid artery aneurysm: A bulge in the artery wall that weakens it and could lead to a rupture.

Veins are flexible tubes with one-way valves that help blood flow toward the heart. When muscles contract, the valves open, and when muscles relax, the valves close to prevent blood from flowing backward. If these valves are damaged, blood can flow in both directions, leading to pooling, swelling and bulging veins. This can cause symptoms like heaviness, aching, swelling, throbbing or itching, and may lead to blood clots.

• Varicose veins: Bulging, swollen, rope-like veins just under the skin, caused by damaged valves.
• Spider veins: Small red or purple veins on the knees, calves or thighs, caused by swollen capillaries.
• May-Thurner syndrome (MTS): Compression of the left iliac vein by the right iliac artery, increasing the risk of blood clots in the left leg.
• Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS): A condition caused by pressure on the nerves or blood vessels in the neck, armpit or chest.
• Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI): When veins in the legs can’t efficiently return blood to the heart, leading to swelling and other symptoms.

A clot forms when blood thickens and becomes a solid mass. When a blood clot forms inside a blood vessel (called a thrombus), it can break loose and travel through your bloodstream, leading to serious conditions like deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, heart attack or stroke.

Blood clots in your arteries can increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, severe leg pain, trouble walking, or even losing a limb.

• Blood clotting disorders: Conditions that raise the risk of developing blood clots by making blood more likely to clot. These can be inherited (present at birth) or developed later. Some disorders result from high levels of clotting factors in the blood or low levels of natural blood thinners. One of the most serious disorders involves antiphospholipid antibodies, which can cause clots in both arteries and veins.
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): A blood clot in one of the main veins of an extremity.
• Pulmonary embolism: A blood clot that breaks free from a vein and travels to the lungs.
• Axillo-subclavian vein thrombosis (Paget-Schroetter Syndrome): A condition affecting young athletes when pressure from the collarbone or muscles compresses a vein, increasing the risk of clots.
• Superficial thrombophlebitis: A blood clot in a vein just under the skin.

An aneurysm is a bulge that forms in the wall of a blood vessel. It can happen in any blood vessel, but it most often occurs in the aorta, the main blood vessel that carries blood from the heart. There are two main types of aortic aneurysms. Thoracic aortic aneurysms, which happen in the part of the aorta that goes through the chest, and abdominal aortic aneurysms, which occur in the part of the aorta that runs through the abdomen.

The lymphatic system includes a large network of lymph vessels and nodes that help coordinate the immune system's function to protect the body from foreign substances. Lymphedema, an abnormal buildup of fluid, develops when lymph vessels or lymph nodes are missing, impaired, damaged or removed.

• Primary lymphedema (rare): Some people are born without certain lymph vessels or have abnormalities.
• Secondary lymphedema: Occurs when a blockage or interruption alters the lymphatic system. Causes include infection, malignancy, surgery, scar tissue formation, trauma, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), radiation or other cancer treatments.

Vasculitis is when your blood vessels become inflamed, which can happen due to medicine, infections or sometimes for unknown reasons. This swelling can make it hard for blood to flow through the vessels. Vasculitis is often connected to other health issues, like rheumatological conditions or connective tissue diseases. It can also cause an aneurysm, which is a bulge in the blood vessel.