title: The acute diagnosis of Takayasu's arteritis based on helical CT angiography of the chest and neck in the emergency room.
abstract: Recently, a young woman presented acutely with a left hemispheric stroke and differing blood pressures in the arms as her initial manifestation of Takayasu's arteritis. Helical CT angiography, performed to rule out aortic dissection, revealed a thickened wall of the aortic arch with stenoses and occlusions of the great vessels, suggesting the diagnosis. The sequence of imaging studies and findings in this unusually catastrophic presentation of a typically insidious disease are highlighted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Miami School of Medicine, FL, USA.
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: LeBlang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Forteza
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000792:Angiography; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004630:Emergencies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020521:Stroke / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013625:Takayasu Arteritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed