The Indian Practitioner

Abstract

Takayasu Arteritis (TA) is a rare chronic inflammatory vascular disorder that mainly causes stenosis and occlusion of large vessels of the body. TA is prevalent in the Asian population with a higher evidence seen in young females. Even though TA has an unclear etiopathogenesis, there are numerous genetic links found associated with TA. Various interventional and radiological investigations prove to be the key for confirming the diagnosis of TA, following which appropriate medical and surgical line of treatment are done, however there is no universal protocol for managing TA. TA has a tendency to progress to serious life threatening complications, hence early diagnosis and treatment should be the goal, also aimed at preventing future re-stenosis, a well-studied complication of TA. It is also crucial to diagnose TA from other overlapping diseases, owing to its peculiar clinical presentation and characteristic radiological findings, which is often confused with other vascular disorders. TA as a disease greatly impacts the quality of life in affected patients with a worse prognosis seen in those who are predisposed to certain well documented risk factors. Furthermore, an increasing number of cases reporting an interesting link between arteritis and the COVID-19 virus have been reported in recent times, which might prove to be crucial in the forthcoming years for establishing this association. Our article aims to sensitize clinicians with regard to an increased awareness of TA in various clinical settings for better patient management and improved prognosis.

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