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Spontaneous Remission In Large-vessel Vasculitis: Takayasu Arteritis And Paraneoplastic Disorder Associated With Thymic Carcinoma

Onishi, A. 2019Other/Unknown

Onishi, A., Tanaka, Y., & Morinobu, A. (2019). Spontaneous remission in large-vessel vasculitis: Takayasu arteritis and paraneoplastic disorder associated with thymic carcinoma. Scandinavian journal of rheumatology, 48(1), 79–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/03009742.2018.1469165

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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

Arteries

Personal Characteristics

64-year-old man

Clinical Characteristics

Presented with weight loss. Laboratory analyses revealed elevated c-reactive protein (crp) and anaemia of chronic disease. CT showed a thymic tumour without vascular abnormalities. Fdg-PET/CT revealed high-grade uptake in the thymic mass and intermediate-grade uptake in the carotid, subclavian, and thoracic arteries and the abdominal aorta. Large-vessel vasculitis (lvv) with high-grade thymoma was suspected. Two years later, the mass had enlarged and surgical resection was performed. Pathological findings revealed basaloid carcinoma.

Remission Characteristics

At the time of surgery, crp and vascular uptake on PET had normalized

Treatment & Mechanisms

Proposed Remission Mechanisms

Lvv may resolve spontaneously in some patients with tak or neoplasm

Clinical Treatment

Biopsy

Non-Clinical Treatment

None reported