Takayasu Arteritis

Takayasu arteritis is a form of vasculitis that damages arteries throughout your body. Arteritis is inflammation in your arteries. These are the blood vessels that bring fresh blood to your organs and tissues.

Takayasu arteritis causes chronic inflammation. This damages your arteries over time. It starts in your aorta. It’s the main channel that leaves your heart carrying fresh blood. From there, the inflammation spreads into your aorta’s major branches. It can affect your:

• Brain
• Heart
• Kidneys
• Arms and legs (your limbs)
• Other tissues and organs throughout your body

Eventually, the inflammation can cause your arteries to harden and narrow, reducing blood flow. Your pulse may difficult to feel. Weak blood flow can cause dangerous complications. Some can be life-threatening.

Takayasu arteritis can make it hard to go through your daily routine. But it’s treatable. It can even go into remission once you start treatment.

Takayasu arteritis symptoms

The inflammation from Takayasu arteritis puts constant stress on your body. Early symptoms can be easy to miss. They can be vague or seem like they’re not related, including:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Loss of appetite
• Muscle or joint pain
• Skin rashes

Later, the inflammation in your arteries will restrict blood flow to your organs and tissues. This can cause more noticeable symptoms. As blood flow becomes more restricted, you may develop symptoms like:

• Pain in your chest, back or belly
• Cramping or pain in your arms and legs
• Dizziness
• Raynaud’s syndrome
• Headaches
• Heart palpitations
• Pain in the front of your neck
• Shortness of breath
• Vision changes
• Weak or missing pulse

Takayasu arteritis causes

Healthcare providers don’t know exactly what causes Takayasu arteritis. They believe it’s a type of autoimmune disease. This means your immune system attacks your arteries and causes inflammation by mistake. Some researchers believe an infection or toxin might trigger the inflammation.

Risk factors

Takayasu arteritis is rare. It usually affects:

• Females (about 9 in 10 cases)
• People between the ages of 15 and 40
• People of East Asian, Indian and Mexican descent

Complications of Takayasu arteritis

Chronic inflammation can damage your arteries in two ways. It can weaken and stretch them. This can lead to aneurysms and bleeding. Or it may cause scarring that makes your arteries thicken and narrow. This constricts blood flow. Sometimes, both effects happen in different places.

This can lead to complications like:

• Aortic stenosis
• Carotid artery stenosis
• Coronary artery disease
• Renal artery stenosis
• Subclavian artery stenosis

How doctors diagnose Takayasu arteritis

A healthcare provider will diagnose Takayasu arteritis by discussing your health history, giving you a physical exam and performing tests.

Your provider can observe signs like a weak pulse, lower blood pressure in one arm or a whooshing sound when they listen to your heart with a stethoscope. Tell your provider any symptoms or changes you’ve noticed and when they started. Let them know if any symptoms seem to be getting worse.

You may need a few imaging tests, including:

• X-rays
• Ultrasound
• CT angiogram
• MR angiogram

These will help your provider take pictures of your arteries to look for changes or damage. You may also need blood tests to check for signs of inflammation.

Getting the right diagnosis can take time. As the early signs of Takayasu arteritis tend to be mild and vague, you and your provider might not suspect it until you have more advanced symptoms.

Takayasu arteritis treatments

Healthcare providers treat Takayasu arteritis with medications to manage the inflammation and stop it from damaging your arteries. You may need:

• Corticosteroids: These are anti-inflammatory medications, like prednisone.
• Immunosuppressants: These medications calm your immune system so it’s less likely to cause inflammation in your arteries. But as a side effect, you can get sick more easily.
• TNF inhibitors: These are a biologic form of DMARDs that prevent inflammation.
• Blood pressure medications: Managing high blood pressure can help prevent complications of artery disease.
• Statins: If you have high cholesterol, statins can help prevent plaque buildup in your arteries.

Medications can limit future harm to your arteries. But they can’t reverse damage that’s already happened. You may need vascular surgery to restore proper blood flow.

When should I seek care?

You’ll need to see your healthcare provider regularly. This will help them monitor any changes in your body. Contact them right away if you notice any new or worsening symptoms.

Talk with your provider if you’re planning a pregnancy. They’ll help you stay safe and avoid complications while pregnant.

Seek emergency care if you experience any of the following symptoms:

• Trouble breathing
• Trouble smiling or speaking
• Dizziness or faintness
• Chest pain
• Losing feeling in an arm or leg
• Muscle weakness on one side
• Pain when you lift your arms
• A weak or missing pulse

These can be signs of dangerous complications that need to be treated right away.

What can I expect if I have Takayasu arteritis?

You’ll need to manage Takayasu arteritis for the rest of your life. There’s no cure for it. But it usually improves with treatment. Symptoms may come and go. When they’re active, you may find it hard to keep up with your usual activities. But after several years of treatment, the symptoms may go away for a long time. This is called remission. You may be able to stop your treatments if you enter remission. But you’ll still need checkups.

Untreated Takayasu arteritis can be fatal. But with the right diagnosis and treatment, it shouldn’t affect how long you live.