title: Epidemiology of Takayasu's arteritis in Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence and incidence of Takayasu arteritis (TA) among the residents of the city of Izmir, the third largest metropolis in Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five tertiary care teaching hospitals, which were the only ones that provided rheumatology specialty care during the study period in the city of Izmir from 2006 through 2010, were invited to take part in the present study. A case search was performed electronically in the information systems of these hospitals using The International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code for Takayasu arteritis (M31.4). The diagnosis was confirmed through chart review by a rheumatologist according to the 1990 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Annual prevalence was calculated based on the number of patients that were alive at the end of 2010. Age- and sex-adjusted prevalence rates were standardised according to the 2010 Turkish population, based on 2010 Turkish Census.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 41 patients were confirmed to have TA and also to live within the targeted area. The annual prevalence was estimated as 12.8 (95% CI 12.0-13.6) per million; 23.5/million (95% CI 21.9-25.0) in females and 1.9/million (95% CI 1.5-2.4) in males. The prevalence was higher 8.8/million (95% CI 7.7-10.0) in the population >40 years of age. During the study period, the mean annual incidence of TA was estimated as 1.11/million (95% CI 0.54-1.67).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The first epidemiologic study of TA in a Turkish population suggests that TA is a relatively common vasculitis in Turkey.
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey. birlikm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Merih
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Birlik
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yasin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kücükyavas
authors.affiliation: Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aksu
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Dilek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Solmaz
authors.affiliation: Izmir Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gercek
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Can
authors.affiliation: Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taylan
authors.affiliation: Katip Celebi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Servet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akar
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sari
authors.affiliation: Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Keser
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatos
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Onen
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nurullah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akkoc
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013625:Takayasu Arteritis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology