An autopsy case of ulcerative colitis associated with Takayasu's disease with a review of 13 Japanese cases

Abstract

An autopsy was performed on a 42-year-old Japanese female who had been suffering from both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Takayasu's disease. Her UC started at age 27 with bloody stool, and Takayasu's disease was diagnosed at age 30 on the basis of absence of pulse in her left arm. After more than ten years she died of multiple cerebral infarction. An autopsy study revealed the scarring stage of UC in the entire colon and aortitis in the aortic arch and its major branches and pulmonary arteries. Her HLA type was positive for HLA-A2, 24, Bw52 and 61. Clinical features of a total of 13 Japanese cases that had both UC and Takayasu's disease have been reviewed in the Japanese and Western literature.