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An autopsy case of aortic dissection due to giant cell arteritis
Author(s) -
Sakashita Mai,
Sakashita Shingo,
Uesugi Noriko,
Tokunaga Chiho,
Hiramatsu Yuji,
Noguchi Masayuki,
Sakamoto Noriaki
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pathology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1827
pISSN - 1320-5463
DOI - 10.1111/pin.13046
Subject(s) - giant cell arteritis , medicine , autopsy , arteritis , aortic dissection , dissection (medical) , aorta , vasculitis , aneurysm , abdominal aorta , aortitis , aortic aneurysm , coronary arteries , surgery , abdominal aortic aneurysm , aortic rupture , radiology , pathology , artery , disease
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic vasculitis affecting mainly large and medium‐sized arteries. GCA sometimes involves the aorta and its major branches and causes aortic dissection as a rare complication. We have experienced an autopsy case of aortic dissection due to GCA. The patient was an 87‐year‐old Japanese woman with Stanford type A aortic dissection who died 7 days after admission. Two years previously she had been diagnosed as having abdominal aortic aneurysm and undergone endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Although she had no characteristic symptoms of GCA, autopsy revealed marked granulomatous inflammation in the dissected area and coronary arteries. Active arteritis was evident not only in the arteries of the upper extremity but also those in the lower extremity. Granulomatous inflammation was not evident in the aneurysm. The aortic dissection might have been an initial manifestation of GCA. We report the regions of GCA extension and its histology in detail.