Statistics

All of the vasculitides are classified as rare diseases. A rare disease (also called an orphan disease) is a disease or condition affecting fewer than 200,000 persons in the United States. An estimated 25 million people in the United States have a rare disease. Statistics are not available for many of the diseases.

Giant cell arteritis: 20/100,000

Hypersensitivity angiitis: 6/100,000

Polyarteritis nodosa: 3/100,000

Takayasu’s arteritis: 1/100,000

Wegener’s Granulomatosis: 3/100,000 in the United States (The exact number of patients is not known, but a very rough estimate is two new cases per million Americans per year, or about 500 new cases diagnosed each year.)
• The disease can occur at any age; however, it has its peak in the 4th or 5th decade of life.
• It affects males and females equally.
• 85% of patients are above age 19.
• The currently reported age range of patients is 5-91 years.
• The mean age of patients is 41.
• 97% of all patients are Caucasian, 2% are Black, 1% are of another race.