Open AccessTakayasu's arteritis: Frequency of systemic manifestations (study of 22 patients) and favorable response to maintenance steroid therapy with adrenocorticosteroids (12 patients)
Author(s) -
Fraga Antonio,
Mintz Gregorio,
Valle Lorenzo,
FloresIzquierdo Gilberto
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
arthritis & rheumatism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1529-0131
pISSN - 0004-3591
DOI - 10.1002/art.1780150608
Subject(s) - medicine , prednisone , arteritis , erythrocyte sedimentation rate , systemic disease , takayasu's arteritis , maintenance therapy , surgery , cardiology , disease , vasculitis , chemotherapy
Of 22 patients with Takayasu's arteritis, systemic manifestations, such as headache, tiredness, parasthesia and dizziness, were as prevalent as those due to localized arterial insufficiency. General symptoms disappeared rapidly in 20 patients treated with prednisone, and in 7 instances, peripheral pulses reappeared after an average of 24.5 months. On an average maintenance dose of 7.5 mg/day of prednisone, there were no deaths nor evidence of vascular deterioration in these patients. The encouraging result is in sharp contrast to previous reports in the literature. It appears that maintenance steroid therapy lengthens the life‐span of these patients by causing remission of both systemic manifestations and those due to arterial insufficiency. The sedimentation rate is an excellent index both to disease activity and to a favorable response to adrenocorticosteroid therapy.