Takayasu arteritis: radiographic and angiographic findings in 59 patients

Fifty-nine patients (57 females, two males) with Takayasu arteritis were retrospectively evaluated. Chest radiographs were abnormal in 68% of patients in whom they were obtained (n = 49). Aortic contour changes and calcification were frequent findings. Sixty-eight percent of patients who underwent total aortography (n = 50) had panaortitis, and 28% had involvement confined to the thoracic aorta and/or its branches. Stenosis was the most common angiographic finding in the aorta and its branches, but occlusion (n = 4), aneurysm (n = 3), and dilatation (n = 15) were not infrequent. Adventitial vascular structures (the vasa vasorum) were seen in three cases. Eighty-six percent (n = 21) of pulmonary arteriograms showed abnormalities. Occlusion was by far the most common finding. There was no predilection for any lobe nor correlation with systemic arteritis. It was concluded that Takayasu arteritis characteristically involves the systemic and the pulmonary arteries independently. Total aortography and pulmonary arteriography are necessary to diagnose and evaluate the extent of the disease.