A retrospective cohort study of 203 patients with Takayasu’s arteritis: Experience from a Brazilian tertiary center

Background . Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a rare form of systemic vasculitis that primarily affects the aorta and its major branches. Despite several epidemiological studies on TAK, only a few descriptive studies have been conducted in our country, which motivated us to conduct this study. Methods . This single-center retrospective cohort study included Brazilian TAK patients who underwent follow-up at a tertiary outpatient clinic between January 2000 and June 2024. Patient data were extracted from the electronic medical records via standardized and parameterized information. Results . A total of 203 patients with TAK were included with a predominance of Caucasians (83.7%) and females (79.8%). The median age at disease diagnosis was 28.0 (interquartile range: 20.0-38.0) years, and the median follow-up period was 122.0 (49.0-177.0) months. During the initial or follow-up period, 65.0% of patients used glucocorticoids and 80.0% used immunosuppressive/immunobiological drugs. The three most common Hata classifications were V (46.8%), IV (23.2%), and I (22.7%). There was a high burden of cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension (72.9%), dyslipidemia (59.1%), and renovascular hypertension (22.7%). When patients were analyzed by age quartile, elderly patients were predominantly without glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants and maintained sustained disease control. Conclusion s. This is the largest cohort study to include Brazilian patients with TAK. Even with higher cardiovascular risk factors than in other series, we observed lower rates of ischemic or cardiovascular events. Moreover, the frequency of disease activity and current treatment was restricted to the patients’ ages.