[A case of aortitis syndrome preceded by pulmonary artery involvement]

A 31-year-old woman was hospitalized with bloody sputum and chest pain in August 1985. The first angiographic examination demonstrated obstructions in the right upper and middle pulmonary arteries without any changes in the thoracic aorta or its branches. The case was, therefore, diagnosed as pulmonary embolism, and treated with some anti-coagulants. In June 1987, she was readmitted since systolic bruit became audible in her right supraclavicular areas. The second angiographic examination revealed narrowings of both the carotid and right vertebral arteries and extension of lesions in pulmonary artery. The diagnosis of aortitis syndrome was made. This case may be the first one in Japan in which a pulmonary lesion was verified by angiogram before remarkable involvement in the aorta or its branches.