Heart and vessels. Supplement最新文献

Heart disease is the main cause of death in patients with Takayasu arteritis. It has been reported that this disease is closely related to the presence of HLA Bw52 antigen. To assess the correlation between this antigen and left ventricular involvement, we studied 40 patients with Takayasu arteritis, 21 with and 19 without Bw52, using Tl-201 stress myocardial scintigraphy and echocardiography. Those with Bw52 had a significantly higher incidence of abnormal electrocardiographic findings (67% vs 26%; P < 0.05) and of aortic regurgitation (52% vs 11%; P < 0.05). The echocardiographically determined interventricular septal wall thickness plus left ventricular posterior wall thickness (25 +/- 8 vs 17 +/- 3 mm; P < 0.01) and the left ventricular mass (257 +/- 132 vs 142 +/- 51 g; P < 0.01) were significantly increased in the patients with Bw52. Scintigraphically determined perfusion abnormalities were significantly more frequent in those with Bw52 (76% vs 32%; P < 0.05). These observations indicate that patients with Takayasu arteritis and Bw52 antigen have a more severe left ventricular involvement than the patients without that antigen. The left ventricular impairment may account for the poor prognosis of Takayasu patients with Bw52.

Cardiac involvement is a serious disorder in Takayasu arteritis. Surgical treatment of aortic root and coronary artery lesions due to Takayasu arteritis has many potential difficulties due to its inflammatory nature. We operated on 15 patients with cardiac involvement stemming from Takayasu arteritis. These patients are classified into 3 groups depending on the clinical diagnosis and surgical procedures employed: coronary artery involvement alone--coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), three patients (group A), aortic regurgitation with intact coronary artery--Aortic valve replacement or modified Bentall's operation, eight patients (group B), and aortic regurgitation with coronary artery involvement g aortic valve replacement or modified Bentall's operation with CABG, (4 patients) (group C). CABG was performed using saphenous vein graft. For aortic valve replacement or replacement of both the aortic valve and ascending aorta, a prosthetic valve or composite graft with Teflon felt flange was fabricated during surgery and treated with fibrin glue before insertion. A double fixation method with reinforcement by a Teflon felt strip was employed for proximal anastomosis of the flanged prosthesis. A button-shaped coronary ostium was directly anastomosed to the composite graft. There was no operative or hospital mortality. One patient died of brain abscess at 6 months after surgery and another patient with CABG required a second operation due to graft failure. Steroid therapy is recommended in cases diagnosed as being in an active stage until the inflammatory signs disappear.

To evaluate the influence of pregnancy on the morbid condition of Takayasu arteritis, we summarized the clinical data and pregnant courses of 18 patients with Takayasu arteritis and a total of 22 deliveries. We followed C-reactive protein (CRP) scores in 16 of 18 patients (20 of 22 deliveries) to ascertain the inflammatory condition inherent in Takayasu arteritis 1 year prior to, during, and 1 year after pregnancy. We also evaluated digital plethysmograms (pulse amplitude, pulse wave, crest time) to follow the hemodynamical condition of patients before, during, and after pregnancy. CRP scores improved significantly during pregnancy and 1 year after delivery. In the digital plethysmograms, pulse amplitude and wave also exhibited improvement after delivery, but crest time remained unchanged. This indicated that pregnancy is a state favorable to this disease. Some factors, such as the sex hormone progesterone, may induce this condition, but the details are still unknown. In conclusion, inflammatory activity and the hemodynamic state improve with pregnancy in patients with Takayasu arteritis. The physiologic aspects which cause this improvement should be maintained even after pregnancy.

Takayasu arteritis is a non-specific chronic inflammatory vascular disease of unknown etiology. Since the incidence of this disease in the child-bearing years is relatively high, the management of pregnancies with this disease is of great importance in clinical obstetrics. This study is aimed at discussing the maternal management and obstetrical outcome, based on the clinical data obtained from 23 pregnancies of 15 patients treated in our hospital in the past 12 years. Since the disease was in the active state, artificial abortions were conducted in four cases in the 1st trimester of pregnancy. Among the remaining 16 cases, 3, who exhibited neither hypertension nor other complications, vaginally delivered neonates weighing 2,660-3,100 g with Apgar scores of nine after 37 weeks' gestation. C-sections were performed for 13 patients who showed sustained hypertension or/and developed other vascular disorders. Their gestational periods ranged from 34 to 40 weeks and the body weight of the infants varied from 1,425 to 3,024 g. No adverse influence of pregnancy and delivery on Takayasu arteritis was detected in the puerperium of any patients. It is suggested that the state of Takayasu arteritis in early pregnancy and the magnitude of blood pressure elevation in the late gestational period are the most critical and definitive factors in determining the management of pregnancy of a patient with Takayasu arteritis. Cooperative managements by the specialists in obstetrics, internal medicine, and perinatology are required to provide a satisfactory clinical outcome.

Takayasu arteritis is a non-specific inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. It was first recognized as having a peculiar wreath-like arteriovenous anastomosis around the papillae of the retina by a Japanese ophthalmologist, Dr. M. Takayasu in 1908. A Japanese research committee reported more than 5,000 cases. For a supplement issue on Takayasu arteritis, this brief overview article has been written as an introduction to the disease.

Takayasu arteritis is a disease of world-wide distribution. Geographic difference in sex incidence, anatomical distribution, and the type of lesion is observed. Hypertension is very common in the present series, as well as in combination with absent or deficit of peripheral pulses. These symptoms correlate well with arteriographic findings of brachiocephalic and renal artery obstructive lesion. While aneurysm and stenotic lesions have a predilection in the abdominal aorta, stenotic lesion of the thoracic aorta occurs more commonly than aneurysm. However, aneurysm of the aorta as well as of the brachiocephalic arteries is seen more frequently than in the reports, of others. The presence of "funnel-shape" resulting from renal artery obstructive lesion and dilatation or aneurysm of contiguous aorta was characteristic of Takayasu arteritis in our series. The material presented in this report reflects not only geographic variation but also the severe form of this disease. Total aortography, coronary arteriography and pulmonary arteriography, are of value not only for the diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis but also for demonstration of anatomical distribution, severity and type of lesion.

Takayasu arteritis is a chronic vasculitis characterized by a clinical pulseless condition and is predominant in young female patients. Its loci is found mainly in Asian countries, and its etiology is still unknown. Our experiences of cases of twin sisters with Takayasu arteritis led us to suppose that hereditary factors participate in the pathophysiology of this disease. Population and family-incidence studies employing HLA analysis in Japan have focused on an complotype Aw24-DW52-C4A2-C4BQ0-Dw12 which was in disequilibrium with Takayasu arteritis. Clinical features and clinical courses were found to be intimately related to this complotype. Recent studies on HLA typing in other countries have also suggested the important roles of hereditary factors in this morbid condition and international collaborative studies on these hereditary factors are now under way.

We reviewed retrospectively 126 (5 male, 121 female) patients suffering from Takayasu arteritis who had been treated in our clinics from 1971 to 1990. The patients' ages ranged from 19 to 80 yrs old (1990) with a mean age of 48.7 +/- 11.8 years. HLA typing analysis in 98 patients revealed that 45 patients (47%) were confirmed as carrying the Bw52 antigen, a high result that is statistically significant as compared with that in healthy Japanese. Arteriograms (performed in 75 patients) revealed that 28 patients (37%) were affected in the aorta and its main branches by this disease (type IV by Nasu's classification) and 23 patients (31%) were affected only in the main branches (type I). The C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) improved significantly from 2.55 +/- 0.28(+) and 57.0 +/- 5.69 mm/hr to 0.53 +/- 0.12(+) and 31.2 +/- 3.45 mm/hr, respectively after treatment including steroid and antiplatelet therapy (P < 0.01). Patients with Bw52 exhibited more severe inflammatory conditions than those without Bw52. Lung scintillations performed in 81 patients showed pulmonary arterial lesions in 50 patients (62%). Echocardiograms revealed aortic regurgitation (AR) in 44 patients (35%), with a significant difference noted between the Bw52 positive group and the Bw52 negative group [29/40 (73%) versus 11/47 (23%), respectively, P < 0.001]. Patients with Bw52 were prescribed higher doses of steroids (P < 0.05) for longer periods (P < 0.01) than those without Bw52.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

From 1959 to 1991, 93 patients underwent vascular reconstruction for Takayasu arteritis at our institution. The details of the cases were as follows: 16 were of type I (brachiocephalic ischemia), 48 type II (hypertension), 13 type III (extensive lesions with cerebral ischemia and hypertension), and 16 type IV (aneurysms). Carotid reconstruction, repair of atypical aortic coarctation, renovascular reconstruction, and aneurysm repair were performed independently or in combination. Nine operative deaths occurred, 8 cases of which were operated before 1970. The most serious of the delayed complications was suture line aneurysm formation, which was encountered in ten cases. The aneurysms were often found long after the operation, some of them developing even after more than 20 years. Takayasu arteritis is characterized by extensive inflammation and destruction of the medial elastic fibers and long term postoperative observation is mandatory to improve the late survival rate.