Coexistence of Takayasu's arteritis and inflammatory colitis detected by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography

Abstract

  A woman in her thirties was diagnosed as Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) by dilatation, wall thickness of her abdominal aorta in contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Although she didn't have any subjective bowel symptoms, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) also revealed uptake of FDG in descending colon, and colonoscopy revealed aphthous colitis. After the start of steroid therapy, both arteritis and colitis were improved. FDG-PET can detect TAK and inflammatory bowel diseases at an early stage. FDG-PET is a less invasive module with a high sensitivity for detecting colitis, therefore should be considered for TAK even without physical colon symptoms.