Takayasu Arteritis in Chronic Migraine

Abstract

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a systemic granulomatous vasculitis of large vessels with low incidence and nonspecific symptoms, and late diagnosis and management lead to complications such as stroke, acute myocardial infarction or peripheral ischemia. This case illustrates the complexity of TA diagnosis because its symptomatology is frequently mistaken as chronic migraine. Therefore, without a syndromic approach, it is more likely to increase comorbidity and progression of the disease. This paper deacribes a 25-year-old woman with chronic migraine for 8 years, with recurrent admissions to emergency service, and specialist outpatient consultations. The patient has a history of fugax amaurosis, hypertension and claudicating chest pain that required treatment with corticoid, hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate and neflunomide, due to a stenosis of 50-70% of the left carotid artery and thickening of the walls of the distal thoracic aorta and the proximal abdominal aorta, corresponding to TA, with improvement of its subsequent symptomatology to treatment for rheumatology.