Spontaneous remission in large-vessel vasculitis: Takayasu arteritis and paraneoplastic disorder associated with thymic carcinoma

Abstract

Large-vessel vasculitis (LVV) affects the aorta and its major branches, and has two major variants: Takayasu arteritis (TAK) and giant cell arteritis (GCA). TAK is a chronic disease treated with gl...

Case Details

Disease Location

Carotid artery

Personal Characteristics

45-year-old woman, had been diagnosed with takayasu arteritis (tak) at age 36

Clinical Characteristics

Presented with bilateral cervical pain and high-grade fever. On admission, her temperature was 39.5c. She had tenderness and bruits over the bilateral carotid arteries and cervical lymphadenopathies. Laboratory analyses revealed an elevated c-reactive protein (crp) level. Meropenem was administered. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed contrast-enhanced vascular walls of the bilateral carotid arteries. Fdg-PET/CT showed mild uptake in the wall of the carotid arteries. A diagnosis of recurrence of tak was made

Remission Characteristics

After 2 weeks, she spontaneously became afebrile and the cervical pain resolved, with a normalized crp level. MRI after 3 months also showed no enhancement of the carotid vascular walls

Treatment & Mechanisms

Proposed Remission Mechanisms

Lvv may resolve spontaneously in some patients with tak or neoplasm

Clinical Treatment

Biopsy

Non-Clinical Treatment

None reported