Does Type 5 of Takayasu's Arteritis Require Subclassification?

Abstract

Abstract Background Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is an inflammatory vascular disease of the young involving the large elastic arteries resulting in occlusive or ectatic changes, mainly in the aorta and its major branches as well as the pulmonary artery and its branches. Materials and Methods The authors reviewed the TA patients admitted over 2 years in their department and who underwent catheterization. They noted the clinical presentations, two-dimensional (2D) echocardiographic features, and angiogram details of all these patients. Results The study population constituted 24 patients with mean age of 28 years. Out of them, 21 (87.5%) were females. Most of the admitted TA patients presented with claudication complaints (79.2%), 37.5% patients had breathlessness, and 12.5% patients had typical stable angina symptoms. Five patients had 2D echo abnormalities, and rest of the patients had normal echocardiogram. Coronary angiogram (CAG) along with aortogram and selective peripheral arteriograms were performed of all these patients. Left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease was seen in three (12.5%) patients. Case details of two (8.3%) patients with multiple anomalous communications of the coronaries with pulmonary vasculature were described. Conclusion TA patients who came for catheterization were predominantly females, mainly involving the aorta and its main branches. In the authors’ TA series of patients, type 5 presentation was there in five (20.8%) patients (three cases of LMCA + two cases of coronary artery to pulmonary parenchymal fistulas). They propose to subclassify type 5 of TA, as they report coronary artery to pulmonary parenchymal fistulas along with the previous literature.