Takayasu's arteritis. Clinical study of 107 cases

The clinical experience derived from the retrospective study of 107 cases of TA over a 19 year period is presented. The disease predominated in females (8.5:1), with age of onset usually less than 20 years. In half of the cases an acute inflammatory phase was observed, characterized mainly by systemic and cardiovascular symptoms. Subsequently the natural course of TA was toward chronicity with gradual deterioration. The most frequent variety of TA (65 per cent of the patients) was Type III, in which the supra-aortic trunks and the abdominal aorta were involved. The predominant clinical features were reduction of amplitude of peripheral arterial pulses (96 per cent), vascular bruits (94 per cent), and raised blood pressure (72 per cent), mainly resulting from renal arterial involvement (62 per cent). Heart failure (28 per cent) is rarely the result of direct coronary arteritis. TA is most often confused with aortic coarctation, but usually the aortogram distinguishes these. The etiology of TA is discussed. The high incidence of previous and present active tuberculous (48 per cent) in the present series and previous experimental work suggest that tuberculosis may play an important role in the etiology of TA. Treatment for antihypertension and heart failure should be employed when indicated. Treatment with corticosteroids requires further evaluation. Treatment for tuberculosis is not justified in all cases until the exact role of tuberculosis is well established.