Turkish J Pediatr
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Review Case Reports
Takayasu arteritis in a 4-year-old girl: case report and brief overview of the pediatric literature.
Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a large vessel vasculitis that involves the aorta, its major branches and pulmonary arteries. Diagnosis of TA during childhood remains challenging due to the non-specific symptoms. We report a four-year-old girl presenting with fever, fatigue, weight loss, and elbow pain who was later diagnosed as childhood TA. ⋯ Computed tomography angiography showed luminal narrowing and wall thickening in ascending aorta, brachiocephalic, left common carotid and left vertebral arteries and descending aorta. Oral corticosteroid (prednisone, 2 mg/kg/day) was instituted, later followed by oral methotrexate (12.5 mg/m2/week). TA is rare in children; however, childhood TA must be considered in children who present with non-specific systemic symptoms, hypertension and increased acute phase reactants.