Takayasu arteritis in Colombia

Takayasu arteritis has been recognized in Colombia just recently, and so fa r we do not have any report concerning its presentation hen. In this first report, some issues related to the presentation of the disease are indicate d and compared with those found in the medical literature. No differences w ere found in age and sex. Most of the cases were diagnosed during an inacti ve phase of the disease with advanced manifestations due to vascular lesion which suggests the existence of some genetic factor influencing such a pre sentation, or may be the consequence of a delay in diagnosing the disease d uring initial and active stages due to not suspecting it. Comparing the ves sels which are affected among other races and countries, we can find both d ifferences and similarities. With the purpose of discovering the demographi c, clinical, angiographic and laboratorial characteristics of Takayasu arte ritis in Colombia, the present study was carried out by studying 35 clinica l cases in different medical centers of the country. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scie nce Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.