Takayasu Arteritis and Complete Aortic Arch Branch Vessel Occlusions

TAKAYASU arteritis is a large vessel vasculitis of the aorta and its primary branches.1 Severe cases may involve complete occlusion of aortic arch branch vessels as noted in the computerized tomography from this 28-yr-old woman. Three-dimensional (A) and coronal (B) images from a contrast-enhanced computerized tomography demonstrate irregular severe stenosis of the right common carotid artery (red arrows) and complete occlusions of bilateral subclavian arteries (yellow arrows), the left common carotid artery (white brackets), and the left vertebral artery (white arrow inA). Note the hypertrophied right vertebral artery (green arrow inA), providing the majority of intracranial blood flow. Due to these severe arterial occlusions, she developed visual deficits with neck movement, presyncope, and arm claudication.
Source: Anesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research