Takayasu Arteritis and Sacroiliitis: A Case Control Study in 28 Patients of a Single Italian Center

Paola Toniati¹, Francesca Regola ¹, Franco Franceschini ¹, Giovanni Bosio ² and Angela Tincani ³, ¹Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit, ASST Spedali Civili and University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, Brescia, Italy, ²Nuclear Medicine Unit, ASST Spedali Civili of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, Brescia, Italy, ³Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Spedali Civili and Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, Brescia, Italy

Meeting: 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting

Keywords: axial spondyloarthritis, large vessel vasculitis and sacroiliitis, Takayasu arteritis

Session Information

Date: Sunday, November 10, 2019

Title: Vasculitis – Non-ANCA-Associated & Related Disorders Poster I: Takayasu's Arteritis & Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Session Type: Poster Session (Sunday)

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: A lot of clinical case descriptions about spondyloarthropathy in TAK patients were reported. Recently, a paper about an increased incidence of spondyloarthropathy in TAK patients (Guzel Esen S., Joint Bone Spine 2019 in press) was published. The diagnosis of sacroiliitis may be performed by X-ray, CT or MRI. CT findings of sacroiliitis are: contour irregularities, joint space alterations, joint erosion, subcondral bone changes (osteoporosis or sclerosis), enthesitis, ankylosis. Patients with Takayasu Arteritis (TAK) performe routinely FDG-CT-PET for monitoring disease activity.
The aim of this study is to understand if there are an increased association of sacroiliitis in TAK patients in our monocentric cohort.

Methods: We collected retrospectively imaging data (CT) from 28 patients affected by TAK and 28 controls undergoing FDG-PET-CT scan in our center. Controls were selected among patients who performed FDG-PET-CT in our Nuclear Medicine Unit, excluding patients with bone tumors, tumors with bone metastasis and thyroid cancers. The majority of controls were affected by lymphoma in a complete remission. Controls and patients were matched for sex and age. An expert rheumatologist read the CT scans of sacroiliac joints.

Results: No patients and no controls demonstrated FDG-uptake in sacroiliac joints.

In the control group, we detected sacroiliac sclerosis in two cases: one due to a degenerative changes and another to a sacroiliitis (1/28, 4%).

In the TAK group four patients presented CT alterations suggestive for sacroiliitis: bilateral erosions in one case, a bilateral sclerosis in one case, a mono lateral sclerosis in two cases (4/28,14%). One of these patients complained an inflammatory back pain.

Conclusion: In our cohort of TAK patients we demonstrated an increased prevalence of sacroiliitis, diagnosed by CT scan. Only one patient of TAK group reported an inflammatory back pain, while three patients had only radiological signs of previous sacroiliitis. This reinforce the need to look for spondyloarthropathy in TAK patients even if asymptomatic.

Disclosure: P. Toniati, None; F. Regola, None; F. Franceschini, None; G. Bosio, None; A. Tincani, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Toniati P, Regola F, Franceschini F, Bosio G, Tincani A. Takayasu Arteritis and Sacroiliitis: A Case Control Study in 28 Patients of a Single Italian Center [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019; 71 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/takayasu-arteritis-and-sacroiliitis-a-case-control-study-in-28-patients-of-a-single-italian-center/. Accessed .

« Back to 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/takayasu-arteritis-and-sacroiliitis-a-case-control-study-in-28-patients-of-a-single-italian-center/