Takayasu's arteritis: case report of a patient with recurrent subclavian steal syndrome.

Takayasu's arteritis is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown origin in which cell-mediated inflammation involves large arteries progressing from the adventitia to the intima, until the lumen of the vessel is narrowed. Here we report a case of a 48-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with Takayasu's arteritis 6 years ago. At that time, because of severe involvement of both the right and left carotid arteries, she underwent application of a Hemashield vascular prosthesis, including the ascending aorta, left common carotid artery, and right common carotid artery.