Ultrasonography in Large-Vessel Arteritis

• Published in: Rinsho byori. The Japanese journal of clinical pathology Vol. 62; no. 9; p. 868
• Main Authors: Miyamoto, Kyoko, Miyamoto, Michiaki, Taniguchi, Nobuyuki, Nakazawa, Yoshitaka, Kanda, Miho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan 01.09.2014
• Subjects: Arteritis - classification; Arteritis - diagnosis; Arteritis - diagnostic imaging; Arteritis - pathology; Giant Cell Arteritis - diagnosis; Giant Cell Arteritis - diagnostic imaging; Giant Cell Arteritis - pathology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Angiography; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Positron-Emission Tomography; Takayasu Arteritis - diagnosis; Takayasu Arteritis - diagnostic imaging; Takayasu Arteritis - pathology; Ultrasonography
• ISSN: 0047-1860

Vasculitides are a group of diseases in which inflammation occurs in various vascular walls of the whole body, and ischemic symptoms are caused by stenoses and occlusions of blood vessels. Various parts of blood vessels of the whole body are affected, and the clinical manifestations are diverse. In the Chapel Hill Consensus Conference (CHCC) 2012, vasculitides are classified into seven categories. Takayasu arteritis and giant cell arteritis are included in large-vessel vasculitis. Large-vessel arteritis is defined as vasculitis affecting the aorta and its major branches more often than other vasculitides, but any sized artery may be affected. Ultrasonography has been progressing rapidly, so we can easily depict vessels of the surface of the body, in 0.1-mm units, and indicate the blood flow noninvasively. Ultrasonography has been used for the diagnosis of and estimation of the treatment for large-vessel vasculitis, and its importance has been increasing.