Takayasu's arteritis: a rare disease in Poland

Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a rare and potentially life-threatening granulomatous large-vessel vasculitis that involves mostly in the aorta and its proximal branches, and occurs most commonly in young females. This study measures the incidence and prevalence of TA, and assesses the gender distribution and territorial differences in the occurrences of this disease in Poland over a five-year period. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evaluation of this rare disease in Poland based on a hospital morbidity database.

Analyses were performed with population-based administrative data obtained from a national hospital morbidity study carried out between January 2011 - December 2015 by the Polish National Institute of Public Health. Yearly incidence rates and prevalence of TA were calculated using the number of TA patients and corresponding census data for the overall Polish population.

Data included 660 hospitalization records. The final study sample comprised 177 patients: 154 female (87%) and 23 male (13%) with first-time hospitalization for TA. The mean age was 45.4years (95% CI: 42.9-47.8; SD 16.8; range 4-81 years), median 47. The incidence rate of TA was estimated at 0.92 per million per year (95% CI: 0.68-1.16). Five-year TA prevalence was estimated to be 4,6 per million. Incidence rates of TA did not vary significantly between more urban and more rural regions.

The incidence of TA in Poland was similar or lower to data reported by other European countries. The study provides epidemiological data on TA in Poland that may be useful while comparing it with other geographical regions.