[Takayasu's arteritis and retroperitoneal fibrosis: a case report]

The authors report a 38-year-old young Moroccan woman with retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF) associated with Takayasu's disease. The RPF was diagnosed in the presence of an acute renal failure requiring placement of double J catheters while an abdominal CT scan was suggestive of RPF. The diagnosis of Takayasu's disease was suspected three years later when the patient presented with right upper extremity dysesthesia. Aortic angiography showed evidence of typical inflammatory arteritis involvement with bilateral regular and concentric stenosis of axillary arteries and a left, smoothly narrowed primitive carotid artery, and left renal artery partial occlusion. The patient was treated with prednisone (0.5mg/kg per day) with a marked improvement. The association between RPF and Takayasu's disease is very rare, and only five cases have been reported in the literature. These two diseases share similarities in some of the etiologic factors and anatomic localizations.