First case of childhood Takayasu arteritis from Syria: a case report

Takayasu arteritis is a systemic granulomatous inflammation affecting the large- and medium-sized vessels such as aorta, its main branches, and pulmonary and renal arteries. Childhood Takayasu arteritis is a subtype of Takayasu arteritis that affects the age group ranging from young infants to late adolescents.

We report the first childhood Takayasu arteritis case from Syria, a 12-year-old Syrian girl presenting with nonspecific symptoms and signs plus ischemic clinical features in her left arm. She relapsed twice with different additional symptoms each time.

There is scarcity of reviews and studies on childhood Takayasu arteritis in Arabs. We aim to share our experience to keep childhood Takayasu arteritis in mind as a differential diagnosis in any child presenting with hypertension, absent or reduced peripheral arterial pulse, or blood pressure differences between extremities.