ABSTRACT

Takayasu’s arteritis (TA) is an idiopathic, rare vasculitis that affects the aorta and its primary branches. It is also known as ‘pulseless disease’ because of its presentation with absence of peripheral pulses. Women are more often affected than men. Anesthesia for patients with Takayasu’s arteritis is complicated by their severe uncontrolled hypertension, end-organ dysfunction resulting from hypertension, stenosis of major blood vessels affecting regional circulation, and difficulties encountered in monitoring arterial blood pressure. Anesthetic management of patients with this disease have been limited to isolated case reports in the anesthetic literature, mostly in women undergoing cesarean delivery. This case has been presented in order to review the details of the disease, since Takayasu’s arteritis has been observed very rarely, and to examine the patients in detail, in order to choose the optimal anesthetic management with the measures to prevent its possible perioperative complications.

Keywords: Takayasu arteritis, pregnancy, anaesthesia, complications