Improvement of Arterial Wall Lesions in Parallel with Decrease of Plasma Pentraxin-3 Levels in a Patient with Refractory Takayasu Arteritis after Treatment with Tocilizumab

Figure 2

Changes in the computed tomographic findings of arterial lesions of Takayasu arteritis before and after starting tocilizumab therapy. Contrast-enhanced CT of the descending aorta (the upper), the right femoral artery (the bottom left), and the left femoral artery (the bottom right) was performed. Three months before starting tocilizumab therapy, while on the treatment with infliximab, arterial wall thickening of the femoral arteries was observed (a). After six months of tocilizumab therapy, there was a significant decrease in the wall thickness of the descending aorta and the femoral arteries (b). After 17 months of tocilizumab therapy, there was a further decrease in arterial wall thickness and an increase in the intraluminal diameter of the descending aorta and the femoral arteries (c).

(a)

(b)

(c)