Takayasu's arteritis mimicking acute aortic dissection

A 17-year-old girl presented with a history of dyspnea on exertion and fever of 1-week duration. She was evaluated elsewhere with transesophageal echocardiography and helical computed tomographic scan, and she had been diagnosed with an acute type I dissection of the aorta. She had also been diagnosed with severe aortic regurgitation and a suspected aortic root abscess. On the operating table, we found no evidence of dissection, but we did find that her aorta was severely thickened and inflamed. The patient's aortic valve was replaced. In view of the left main stem ostial stenosis, we harvested and grafted the left internal thoracic artery to the left anterior descending artery. During the operation it is of paramount importance to rule out dissections involving the arch and coronary ostial narrowing.