Takayasu’s arteritis: time for new imaging techniques

• Autor(a) principal: Nabais, Sérgio
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Outros Autores: Gouveia, Paula, Barracha, Ivone, Lima, Maria João, Rodrigues Dias, António, Rua, Abel
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://revista.spmi.pt/index.php/rpmi/article/view/1572
• topic: Arterite de Takayasu; hipertensão arterial; hipertensão reno-vascular; arteriografia; vasculite; angio-ressonância; Takayasu’s arteritis; hypertension; renovascular hypertension; arteriography; vasculitis; magnetic resonance angiography

Takayasu’s arteritis is a chronic, inflammatory and stenotic disease of unknown aetiology, involving medium- and large-sized arteries, primarily the aorta and its major branches and occasionally the pulmonary artery.The authors present the case of a 27-year-old woman with hypertension, referred to our Internal Medicine Department. Extensive vascular calcification in the large abdominal arteries, including the right renal artery, was detected by adrenal computed tomography and prompted further radiological exams, namely magnetic resonance angiography of the renal arteries and aorta, and complete aortic arteriography. The findings were consistent with the diagnosis of Takayasu’s arteritis. Corticosteroid therapy (1mg/kg/day prednisone) was instituted, with good clinical response.The authors review this uncommon entity, discussing its varied clinical manifestations and the difficulty often encountered in establishing diagnosis, highlighting the importance of less invasive imaging procedures which are currently available. The importance of a detailed investigation when facing hypertension at a young age is also underlined.