Takayasu arteritis is a rare form of chronic inflammatory arteritis affecting large vessels, predominantly the aorta and its main branches. Those at highest risk are adolescent girls and women in their 2nd and 3rd decade of life, and this disease is most frequently seen in Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Mexico. An elderly woman with Takayasu arteritis of late onset, an extremely unusual diso...

Fever of unknown origin is a diagnostic challenge. Among its causes are of large caliber vessels vasculitis (LCVV), including Takayasu arteritis (TA) and giant cell arteritis (GCA). Early diagnosis is vital to prevent fibrosis of the vessel wall, and consequently, stenoses, aneurysms or occlusions. Imaging techniques can be of great help in recent years, highlighting the temporal artery through...

Cutaneous involvement in giant cell arteritis is quite uncommon. A patient is described who presented with pretibial skin lesions clinically indistinguishable from erythema nodosum which, on biopsy, showed subcutaneous pannicular giant cell vasculitis. Cutaneous manifestations of giant cell arteritis are subsequently reviewed.

BACKGROUND Giant-cell arteritis is a diagnostic challenge. PURPOSE To determine the diagnostic performance of ultrasonography for giant-cell arteritis. DATA SOURCES Studies published up to April 2004 in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases; reference lists; and direct contact with investigators. STUDY SELECTION Studies in any language that examined temporal artery ultrasonography f...

Dear Editor, A 77-year-old Indian man who was an ex-smoker has a medical history of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, previous cerebral lacunar infarct and temporal (giant cell) arteritis which was complicated by optic neuritis. The giant cell arteritis was diagnosed 12 years ago. He has received chronic steroid treatment in the past. He presented with congestive heart failure in the current hospi...

The authors present a case of probable amphetamine-induced cerebral arteritis in a 31-year-old man with AIDS, testicular carcinoma, and recurrent pneumocystis pneumonia. MR enhancement was demonstrated in areas of focal arterial ectasia, presumably due to slow flow. CT, MR, and angiographic findings were strikingly confirmed postmortem. Angiography remains essential in the diagnosis of cerebral...

Takayasu arteritis can have myriads of presentation, depending on site and extent of disease. As no age is immune for this disease, it is important to keep a high index of suspicion, otherwise the diagnosis can be missed. We hereby describe a case of Takayasu arteritis, which presented as dilated cardiomyopathy.

The manifestations of Takayasu's arteritis of the aorta were studied in 84 patients. The extent of the involvement of the aorta was classified on aortographic examination in 54 patients and from the clinical manifestations in 30. Involvement of the aorta was classified as: (1) arch type in 47 cases; (2) extensive type (whole aorta and its branches involved) in 27 cases; and (3) descending thora...

Small-vessel arteritis is associated with hypertension because the commonest varieties, granulomatous vasculitis with polyangitis and microscopic polyangitis with antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies, usually cause necrotizing glomerular disease. Medium vessel vasculitis, such as polyarteritis nodosa and Kawasaki disease, are less regularly associated with hypertension. Large-vessel vascul...