title: A 16-year survey of Takayasu's arteritis in a tertiary Belgian center.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the clinical features, angiographic findings and evolution of Takayasu's arteritis in a Belgian tertiary center, and to compare the findings with published series of Western patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of 15 patients with Takayasu's arteritis, satisfying the American College of Rheumathology criteria, in the period 1986 to 2002. Published series of Western patients were identified by means of a Medline search and citation-tracking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diagnosis was often delayed, with a median period of 9 months. Patients presented with a variety of symptoms and clinical signs and had on average 4.5 arterial segments involved at angiography. Twelve patients received corticosteroid treatment and 4 of them additional immunosuppressive drugs. Five patients underwent angioplasty and/or stenting and 8 patients had open surgical procedures. During follow-up, there were 2 cardiac deaths and 2 other patients died from intracranial hemorrhage. Comparison with published series of other Western patients did not reveal major differences of anatomical distributions of the lesions, but left the impression that more aggressive use of immunosuppressive drugs might have improved the outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Takayasu's arteritis results in an important morbidity and mortality. More aggressive medical therapy may be advantageous, but this would require adequate investigation in a controlled trial for which a multicenter effort is needed because of the rarity of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Vascular Center, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Ruige
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Geet
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nevelsteen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Verhaeghe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013625:Takayasu Arteritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors