[Inflammatory activity in Takayasu arteritis. Detection through positron emission tomography (PET)].

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a chronic disease that affects mainly the aorta. Its etiology is still unknown, nevertheless it predominates in women and initiates primarily in the youth. This disease seems to have two different stages, an early stage that is characterized by an inflammatory process and a later stage characterized by vascular occlusion. Unitl now, diagnosis and classification of TA are made clinically, based on ACR; criteria and imaging studies as computed tomography and aorta angiographies. Currently, new imaging, non invasive studies, such as magnetic resonance (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) are being used. PET technique could be helpful in the diagnosis and detection of inflammatory activity in patients with TA because of its capacity to detect increased metabolism. We present the case of a female patient with TA diagnosis, which demonstrated clinical inflammatory activity that was corroborated by laboratory studies, MRI and PET.