Typically, Takayasu's disease affects women between the ages of 15 and 30 who have ancestors of Mongoloid origin. The ratio of this category of patients to others is approximately 8: 1. The most common disease occurs in women living in Japan, but this does not mean that we are completely safe. Nonspecific aortoarteritis, as this syndrome is also called, has recently been recorded in Europe.
Symptoms of Takayasu's disease
Arteritis Takayasu is a disease that begins with an inflammatory process in the walls of the aorta, and the origin of this syndrome has not been established to date. There were suggestions that the disease had a viral nature, but they did not find confirmation. Most likely, nonspecific aortoarteritis, or Takayasu's disease, is of genetic origin.
The inflammatory process affects the walls of the aorta and the main arteries, granulomatous cells begin to accumulate in them, as a result of which the lumen narrows and the normal circulation is disturbed. In the initial stage of the disease, there are typical somatic symptoms:
- fever;
- dizziness and headaches;
- general weakness;
- various sleep disorders;
- apathy;
- rapid weight loss;
- aching joint pain and numbness of the limbs .
Further symptoms of arteritis Takayasu are manifested depending on which arteries are most affected:
- When the brachiocephalic trunk is injured, the carotid and subclavian arteries lose the pulse in their hands.
- When the abdominal and thoracic aorta is affected, atypical stenosis is observed.
- Combination of symptoms of the first and second type.
- Expansion of the vessels, leading to lengthening of the aorta and its main branches.
As a result, heart disease begins to develop, especially angina and sciatica. Without proper treatment, death occurs as a result of failure of the heart valve, or cerebrovascular accident.
Treatment of Takayasu's disease
Diagnosis of Takayasu's disease includes ultrasound examination and a blood test. If the disease is detected on time and is to be treated correctly, it goes into a chronic form and does not progress. This provides the patient with many years of normal life.
Takayasu's arteritis therapy includes the systematic use of corticosteroids , most often Prednisolone. In the first few months, the patient is given the maximum dose, then reduced to a minimum amount sufficient to relieve the inflammation. After a year, you can stop taking anti-inflammatory drugs.