Pulseless Disease due to Branchial Arteritis

Abstract

A case of pulseless disease or branchial arteritis is described and findings of arteriography and arterial biopsy are observed. The primary lesion seems to consist of an acute neutrophilic periarteritis progressing to panarteritis, causing arterial thrombosis. Later stages are characterized by fibroblastic hypertrophy of adventitia with lymphocytic and plasmacellular infiltrations.The anatomic changes are characteristic enough to regard the condition as an independent syndrome that can usually be well differentiated from other inflammatory and degenerative arterial diseases.The arteritis in this case seemed to respond to combined steroid and anticoagulant therapy.