Imaging difficulties in Takayasu arteritis - case report and review of the literature

Diffusion-weighted Whole-body Imaging with Background Body Signal Suppression (DWIBS) as a Novel Imaging Modality for Disease Activity Assessment in Takayasu's Arteritis

A 26-year-old woman with Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) experienced back and neck pain during tocilizumab (TCZ) treatment. The levels of C-reactive protein were normal, and ultrasonography revealed no significant changes. Diffusion-weighted whole-body imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS) showed signal enhancement in the walls of several arteries. Contrast computed tomography showed arterial inflammation in the same lesion. After increasing the dose of prednisolone and TCZ, all signal enhancements decreased and continued to decrease, as observed on days 76 and 132. Thus, DWIBS may be a novel imaging modality for assessing the disease activity of TAK, particularly during follow-up.

Painless bilateral visual loss in a 33-year-old woman with severe arterial hypotension

A 32-year-old woman experienced dizziness and headache for 5 months. She also complained of painless, progressive bilateral visual loss for several weeks. Before developing the initial symptoms, she had an uncomplicated pregnancy except for dizziness and systemic hypotension during the first term. Fundus examination disclosed prominent retinal arteries as well diffuse microaneurysms, widespread intraretinal hemorrhages, and hyperemic optic disks. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple supratentorial white-matter lesions suggestive of ischemic strokes. Initially, she had severe systemic hypotension (41/17 mm Hg). When reassessed, blood pressure was normal in the lower limbs, but there was severe hypotension in the upper limbs. An angio-computed tomography of the supraortic trunks showed occlusion of both primitive carotid arteries, both subclavian arteries and the right axillary and humeral arteries. Based on these findings, the diagnosis of Takayasu type-I arteritis with ischemic retinopathy and cerebrovascular disease was established. Bilateral retinal panphotocoagulation and aorta to right carotid bypass were performed because of the severity of the ischemic lesions.

Role of inflammatory markers in Takayasu arteritis disease monitoring

Background

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is an idiopathic large-vessel vasculitis that can result in significant morbidity and mortality secondary to progressive stenosis and occlusion. Monitoring disease progression is crucial to preventing relapse, but is often complicated by the lack of clinical symptoms in the setting of active disease. Although acute phase reactants such as ESR and CRP are generally used as an indicator of inflammation and disease activity, mounting evidence suggests that these markers cannot reliably distinguish active from inactive TA.

Case presentation

We report a 24-year-old Hispanic female with a 5-year history of TA who presented with stroke-like symptoms and evidence of left MCA occlusion on imaging, despite a history of decreasing inflammatory markers. CTA revealed complete occlusion of the left common carotid artery, left subclavian, and left MCA from their origins. It also revealed a striking compensatory circulation supplying the left anterior circulation as well as the left subclavian as a response to progressive stenosis.

Conclusion

Monitoring ESR and CRP levels alone may not be a reliable method to evaluate disease progression in patients with TA, and should be taken in context with both patient’s clinical picture and the imaging. We recommend that serial imaging be performed regularly in the setting of active disease to monitor progression and allow for immediate therapy in response to evidence of disease advancement, with a relaxation of the imaging interval once the disease is presumed inactive.

Bilateral subclavian steal syndrome with vertigo

Subclavian steal syndrome (SSS) is usually caused by unilateral subclavian artery (SA) occlusion, and bilateral SSS is very rare. Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a chronic granulomatous form of vasculitis that affects the SA, most commonly in women aged 15-40 years. We report a rare case of bilateral SSS due to TA in a 52-year-old woman, who exhibited severe vertigo. Although her blood pressure was within the normal range and did not differ between her arms, Doppler ultrasonography revealed low antegrade blood flow in the right SA and retrograde flow in the left SA. Computed tomography angiography demonstrated complete obstruction of the bilateral SA proximal to the vertebral artery origin. The more marked decrease in the blood flow of the vertebrobasilar artery experienced in bilateral SSS compared with unilateral SSS is considered to have caused the severe rotatory vertigo in the present patient. Since the vascular conditions of TA progressively deteriorate, delayed diagnosis and treatment could result in poor outcomes and unfavorable prognosis. We suggest that SSS with TA might require an early detection and treatment as well as careful follow-up for preventing vertigo and other neurological deficits in the vertebrobasilar arterial region.