Echocardiographic follow-up of patients with Takayasu's arteritis: five-year survival

Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a primary vasculitis that causes stenosis or occlusion, rarely aneurysm and distal ischemia. This study was undertaken to examine cardiovascular damage using echocardiography and determine the causes of morbid-mortality in Mexican Mestizo patients with TA. Seventy-six patients were studied by transthoracic echocardiography. Left ventricular diameters, parietal thickness, systolic function, and wall motion were analyzed, also, valvular lesions and aorta features were assessed. Thickness of the interventricular septum was 12 mm +/- 3 (8-19), and that of posterior wall was 12 mm +/- 2 (9-18). The average left ventricular diastolic diameter was 47 mm +/- 7 (33-68) and the left ventricular systolic diameter 32 mm +/- 8 (16-64). The left ventricular ejection fraction was of 57 +/- 11%. Left ventricular concentric hypertrophy was found in 28 (50%) of the 56 hypertensive patients. The five-year survival of patients with left ventricular concentric hypertrophy was 80%, compared to 95% in patients without hypertrophy (P = 0.00). Abnormal wall motion was found in 15 patients. Thirty-one patients had aortic regurgitation, 19 had mitral regurgitation, 13 had tricuspid regurgitation, and 10 and pulmonary hypertension. Six patients had aneurysms of ascending aorta and 7 stenosis of descending aorta. Thirteen of 76 patients died (17%), 85% were hypertensive, and 9% also had acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Echocardiography, a noninvasive technique, shows a great utility in detection and follow-up of cardiovascular manifestations in patients with TA. New techniques, more sensitive toward detecting the early stages of left ventricular dysfunction, are promising to limit left ventricular hypertrophy development.