LAUSR

A 29-year-old pregnant Pakistani woman was admitted in hospital for 4-day history of nausea and diffuse abdominal pain. On physical examination, blood pressure was 169/92 mm Hg and 71/46 mm Hg at the right and left arm, respectively. Because of recurrent episodes of abdominal pain during the next couple of days, magetic resonance imaging was performed and showed an intrauterine fetus, mild thickening of the aortic wall, and no additional pathological findings. Abdominal pain resolved with conservative treatment. Treatment with methyldopa and metoprolol resulted in blood pressure values within the high–normal range. During a trip to her birth country, vaginal bleeding resulted in pregnancy loss at 20 weeks of gestation. Further evaluation of persistent hypertension revealed findings that suggested the diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis. In addition to triple antihypertensive treatment, renal artery stenting resulted in appropriate blood pressure control. The patient refused immunosupressive treatment (Fig. 1).