ABSTRACT

Takayasu arterititis (TA) is a relatively rare systemic vasculitis, mostly occuring in young patients, and involving mainly aorta and its primary branches. Since there are no placebo controlled, randomized clinical trials performed in TA, level of evidence of the data presented here for TA is low, generally reflecting the results of open studies and case series. The most commonly used agents for treatment of TA include corticosteroids and conventional immunsupressive agents, such as methotrexate and azathioprine. In patients who remain resistant and/or intolerant to these agents, due to adverse effects, tumour necrosis factor inhibitors seem to be promising. In selected cases, endovascular interventions or surgery may also be useful for the treatment of critical arterial occlusions. However, these interventions should be performed only after the supression of inflammation with systemic immunsupressive agents.