Abstract
Aortitis is a general term denoting inflammation of the aortic wall. Various infectious and non-infectious diseases can be complicated by aortitis; in addition, isolated idiopathic aortitis has also been described. In a 12-year nationwide Danish population-based study, the prevalence of aortitis among 1,210 resected thoracic aorta samples was 6.1%, with nearly three-quarters of cases being idiopathic. Identified risk factors for aortitis included advanced age, a history of connective tissue disease, diabetes mellitus, and heart valve pathology. As in virtually all pathological studies, this study has a bias toward reporting the most severe cases of aortitis requiring surgical repair.
Highlights
Aortitis is a general term denoting inflammation of the aortic wall
14% of aortitis cases were linked to giant cell arteritis (GCA), and none to Takayasu arteritis (TA)
A common bias to this study and previous studies from surgical centers is a skew towards reporting aortitis cases complicated by aortic aneurysms and, to a lesser extent, dissections requiring surgical repair
Summary
Aortitis is a general term denoting inflammation of the aortic wall. Various infectious and non-infectious diseases can be complicated by aortitis; in addition, isolated idiopathic aortitis has been described. A variety of infectious and non-infectious diseases can be complicated by aortitis; in addition, isolated idiopathic aortitis – usually involving the thoracic aorta – has been described. In the previous issue of Arthritis Research & Therapy, Schmidt and colleagues report on the prevalence and predictors of biopsy-proven aortitis in a 12-year nationwide Danish population-based study [1].
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