Case Report: Takayasu arteritis in a male patient

Abstract

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a type of primary systemic vasculitis mainly affecting the medium and large arteries. The signs and symptoms are due to systemic inflammation or ischemia of an organ or limb and include angiodynia, claudication, peripheral pulselessness, murmurs, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction and severe systemic arterial hypertension. The disease tends to affect more women than men. Here we present a case of TA in a 22-year-old male patient. Our patient presented with complaints of aphasia and right-sided weakness, with on-and-off symptoms of malaise, generalized weakness, unilateral headache, fatigue and shortness of breath lasting two years. Color Doppler ultrasound was sufficient for a diagnosis of TA, after which we started the patient on medical treatment and also consulted the department of vascular surgery. Overall, this case report highlights the importance of screening for TA in male patients so that the diagnosis is not overlooked, and also adds more data to the limited literature on male patients.