Takayasu Arteritis (TA) is a rare systemic granulomatous inflammatory disease, primarily affecting the aorta and its major branches, predominantly diagnosed in females below 40. Clinical presentation of TA might be heterogeneous due to different distribution of changes in blood vessels. We analyzed retrospectively patients with TA who were treated at the Clinic for Allergology and Immunology, UCCS, from 2012 to 2020. From the available medical records, demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters, data regarding diagnostic procedures and treatment were collected and analyzed. From the total of 21 patients, there were 20 females and 1 male, of mean age 48.9(19-70) at the assessment and 40.8(11- 67) at diagnosis. CT angiography revealed morphological type II of TA in 9(42.9%), and type V in 8(38.1%) patients. Dominant clinical presentation at diagnosis was fatigue in 16(71.4%) and headache in 11(52.4%) patients. Dominant finding on examination was the difference in BP in 15(71.4%), hypertension in 13(61.9%), the difference in pulses in 16(76.2%), claudication of arms in 10(47.6%) patients. The diversity of clinical presentation of TA was influenced by the inflammation of different blood vessels and occasionally aortic and/or mitral valves. For establishing the diagnosis of TA, different diagnostic procedures such as Echocardiography, Echo Doppler sonography of blood vessels, and CT/MR angiography, might be used. The lack of typical clinical presentation in paediatric TA patients might result from different distributions of inflammation, mainly present in the aorta while sparing the supra-aortic branches. The mainstay of treatment is corticosteroids, although an additional immunosuppressive is needed in some patients. 

Miljana Đurić is a medical doctor, graduated from Medical school, University of Belgrade in 2021. Since then, she has been proceeding with her passion in research of many autoimmune diseases, aesthetic and regenerative medicine, and pursuing her future career in cardiothoracic surgery although it is not yet in specialty for it.