Clinicopathological features of twenty four active aortitis cases / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the clinicaland pathological characteristics of aortitisin order to improve the understanding of this rare conditionand improve correct diagnostic rate.Methods:Twenty-four cases of active aortitis were identified from a total of 1 838 cases of ascending aorta specimens in the last 6 years at Wuhan Asia General Hospital. Clinical data including medical history, laboratory and imaging data were collected and the treatment with immunosuppressive and hormonal treatment as well as follow-up data were analyzed. Pathological data including gross findings, microscopic features of the aortic valve and aorta were analyzed. Continuous variables were expressed as mean±standard deviation. Frequencies were described as percentages. Results:Among the 24 cases of active aortitis, 1 case was clinically diagnosed as aortitis before operation, 7 cases were suspected aortitis before operation, and the other 16 cases were diagnosed as aortitis after pathological examination. Among those 16 cases, one case was Behcet′s syndrome, 2 cases were infectious aortitis, 3 cases were Takayasu aortitis, and 10 cases were clinically isolated aortitis. None case had aortic stenosis, while 21 cases had aortic valve insufficiency. Eleven cases of aortitis showed coagulation necrosis. In the 5 cases of Behcet′s syndrome, 3 had acute noninfectious endocarditis of aortic valve.Conclusions:Most of the aortitis in this study was found accidentally in pathological examination. All of the clinically isolated aortitiswere misdiagnosed before pathological examination. Most of the patients with aortitis had simple aortic valve insufficiency. Coagulation necrosis is an important clue for the diagnosis of aortitis. Acute noninfectious endocarditis is an important clue for the diagnosis of Behcet′s syndrome.