Renovascular hypertension due to Takayasu's arteritis among Indian patients

Over a 16-year period, 205 patients with hypertension were shown to have a renovascular aetiology. Of these, 125 (61 per cent) had Takayasu's arteritis, 58 (28.3 per cent) had fibromuscular dysplasia, 16 (7.8 per cent) had atherosclerosis, five (2.4 per cent) had polyarteritis nodosa and one (0.5 per cent) had renal artery aneurysm. Among patients with Takayasu's arteritis, males were affected as commonly as females. The mean age of these patients at the time of detection was 26.8 +/- 8.6 years (range 5-52 years). Type I arteritis was seen in nine (7.2 per cent), Type II in 40 (32 per cent) and Type III in 76 (60.8 per cent) patients. The abdominal aorta was involved in 117 (93.3 per cent) patients. Takayasu's arteritis was associated with ulcerative colitis in two patients and with renal amyloidosis and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis with a nephrotic syndrome in one patient each. Surgical intervention consisting of bypass procedures, autotransplantation or nephrectomy was performed in 17 (13.6 per cent) and angioplasty in nine (7.2 per cent) patients. Cure and improvement in blood pressure was observed in 82.4 per cent and 77.8 per cent respectively. Adequate control of blood pressure was achieved with drugs only in 22 (22.2 per cent) patients. A definite cause and effect relationship could not be established between any infective or immunological disorder and Takayasu's arteritis. Takayasu's arteritis is a far more common cause of renovascular hypertension in Indian population than fibromuscular dysplasia or atherosclerosis, which are more common in the western population.