F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography As an Imaging Biomarker in a Prospective, Longitudinal Cohort of Patients With Large Vessel Vasculitis.

Objective: To assess the clinical value of F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in a prospective cohort of patients with large vessel vasculitis (LVV) and comparator subjects.

Methods: Patients with Takayasu arteritis and giant cell arteritis were studied, along with a comparator group consisting of patients with hyperlipidemia, patients with diseases that mimic LVV, and healthy controls. Participants underwent clinical evaluation and FDG-PET imaging, and patients with LVV underwent serial imaging at 6-month intervals.

Muslin-induced intracranial vasculopathic stenosis: a report of two cases.

Muslin wrapping is a commonly utilized alternative technique in the treatment of aneurysms that are not amenable to direct clipping. In this case report, we describe two patients from different institutions who both required aneurysm wrapping with gauze/muslin for aneurysm reinforcement. Both patients developed an inflammatory foreign body response to muslin visible on MRI that resulted in a vasculitic stenosis.

HIV-associated intracranial aneurysmal vasculopathy in adults.

Diffuse fusiform intracranial aneurysms have been reported in children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for over 2 decades, but have only recently been reported in adults with HIV. Although these aneurysms have important clinical implications, their etiology and optimal therapy are unknown. We present a systematic review of diffuse intracranial fusiform aneurysmal vasculopathy in patients who are HIV-positive.

Lower extremity ulcers in connective tissue disease.

Lower extremity ulcers are a late complication of connective tissue diseases and occur more commonly in patients with these diseases than in the general population. Although these lesions have historically been attributed to vasculitis, it is now recognized that inflammatory vessel injury accounts for fewer than 20% of ulcers in connective tissue disease. The pathogenesis of these lesions is complex, and often several processes act synergistically to initiate and perpetuate tissue injury.