Since Takayasu’s arteritis is so rare and its early symptoms are nonspecific, the doctor may suspect that you suffer from this disease until they show symptoms of narrowing of the arteries. This could take months or even years after the disease manifests itself.
The first signs that you might have Takayasu arteritis could be high blood pressure, which is not caused by another condition, difficulty in achieving a measure of blood pressure of a hand, measuring the difference in pressure in each arm or symptoms of poor circulation, all these are common signs just a young person.
Your doctor may suspect that you have Takayasu arteritis if you have at least 3 of the 6 criteria described by the American College of Rheumatology (American College of Rheumatology) to distinguish it from other forms of vasculitis:
- symptoms seen at 40 or younger
- muscle weakness and pain when moving his arms and legs
- weak pulse in the brachial artery (main artery in the arm)
- call sound, breath, indicating turbulent blood flow, when the doctor listens to your aorta or subclavian artery with a stethoscope.
- signs of damage to the aorta or other arteries detected in a test called an arteriogram, which consists of a series of x-rays of the arteries
- difference of at least 10 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) systolic blood pressure (the top number in blood pressure measurement) in left and right arms
To confirm the diagnosis, your doctor will review your symptoms and history, then review it and pay special attention to the heart and blood vessels. Measure blood pressure in your arms and legs, and review the strength of his pulse in his extremities and neck. To hear the murmurs in the blood vessels, your doctor will use a stethoscope to listen to certain areas of your chest, neck and abdomen.
After the physical examination, your doctor will ask other blood tests. In addition, to identify areas where the arteries are damaged, your doctor may ask one or more of the following studies: standard angiography, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), Doppler ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) .
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