Pathophysiology of Vasculitis Histologic description of an affected vessel should include the following: A description of vessel wall damage (eg, type and location of inflammatory infiltrate, extent and type of damage, presence or absence of fibrinoid necrosis) A description of healing responses (eg, intimal hypertrophy, fibrosis) Certain features (eg, predominant inflammatory cell type, location of inflammation) suggest particular vasculitic processes and may aid in the diagnosis.