Diagnostic Inexperience of Takayasu Arteritis in Pediatric Neurology: A Case Report and Mini-Review of the Literature

Abstract

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a chronic inflammatory vasculitis involving the aorta and its main branches. It usually starts with systemic inflammatory signs after ten years of age. Neurological symptoms seen depend on aneurysmatic, stenotic and thromboembolic events in the affected vessels. It is rarely seen in childhood and presentation with epileptic seizure is extremely rare in infantile age. In this case report, a 22-month-old child who was admitted with epileptic seizure and had a large infarction in the area matching the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) watershed. Symptoms and imaging findings due to infarction developed hours after epileptic seizure. First, low molecular weight heparin treatment was started. Following the development of multiple aneurysmatic-stenotic lesions in the left brachial artery and profunda branch, diagnosed as TA. It was added to oral steroid and azathioprine. Resistant seizures were controlled with levetiracetam and valproic acid in the poststroke period. Multidisciplinary follow-up is ongoing with anticoagulant, antiepileptic and immunosuppressive treatments. TA rarely occurs in the infantile period with acute neurological symptoms such as epileptic seizure and stroke. It is important to make diagnosis early in order to reduce the neurological comorbidities that may occur in the long term.