Takayasu arteritis in a young female

Background: Takayasu arteritis is a granulomatous vasculitis which mainly involves the large arterial vessels. The disease is rare and it is more common in females aged between 15-30 years old. In this paper, we report a case of takayasu arteritis in Babol, north of Iran. Case Presentation: A 22 - year old female was admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases of Rouhani Teaching Hospital due to anemia, high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), low grade fever and weight loss in the early summer of 2011. Her problems started four years ago and was hospitalized in another hospital and after full investigation, no diagnosis was found. Physical exam showed a vascular problem, then MRI angiography was done and showed an involvement of right carotid, abdominal aorta and right iliac arteries and the diagnosis of Takayasu Arthritis was confirmed. Prednisolone was administered, her fever subsided and ESR, CRP and hemoglobin were normalized. Conclusion: Takayasu arteritis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patient with protracted low grade fever, anemia and dramatically elevated ESR in young female in order to prevent late complications of the disease