Occult active giant cell aortitis necessitating surgical repair

Large vessel vasculitis: is it more common than usually assumed?

“…EDITORIAL evidence of LVV (6,14). The vagaries of this diagnostic approach indicate the possibility that many cases could remain undiagnosed.…”

Aortitis and aortic aneurysm in systemic vasculitis

“…It can be indistinghishable from aortitis found in GCA. In general, histological features of noninfectious aortitis are similar and there are no specific features helpful in distinguishing isolated aortitis from GCA or TAK (Kerr et al, 2000;Miller et al, 2006;Gravanis, 2000;Hall et al, 1985;miller et al, 2006).…”

“…More recently, other authors have investigated the prevalence of aortitis in specimens obtained from patients who underwent aortic reconstructive surgery because of aortic aneurysm, aortic dissection or aortic valve insufficiency. Table 2 summarizes the main findings of these studies (Burke et al, 2008;Gelsomino et al, 2005;Homme et al, 2006;Kerr et al, 2000;Liang et al, 2009;Miller et al, 2006;Nesi et al, 2009;Pacini et al, 2008;RojoLeyva et al, 2000). Histopathologic analysis of removed aortic fragments revealed chronic inflammation in about 1,7 to 8,7% of patients subjected to aortic surgery.…”

Noninfectious Ascending Aortitis: Staying Ahead of the Curve

“…The frequency of noninfectious aortitis among recent series of patients undergoing repair of aortic aneurysms ranged from 1.7% to 8.8%, with higher frequencies seen when the cases were restricted to disease of the thoracic aorta [10][11][12][13][14] . The age range for noninfectious aortitis is wide (16-85 yrs) with a mean age of roughly 65 years, indicating a skew towards older patients.…”

“…Most of the current knowledge about noninfectious aortitis stems from published single-institution, retrospective case series of aortitis incidentally discovered on pathologic examination of surgical specimens [10][11][12][13][14] , from cohorts of patients with established large-vessel vasculitis, i.e., Takayasu's arteritis or GCA 6,15 , or from autopsy studies 2,14 . Among the studies focusing on inflammatory disease of the aorta, the great majority of cases involved the thoracic aorta, mostly the ascending portion.…”