Table 1.

Imaging modalities in the evaluation of Takayasu Arteritis patients.

Modality	Advantages	Disadvantages
Digital substraction angiography	Excellent morphological definition (lumen) Allows vision of distal vessels	Invasive Radiation Low sensitivity for assessment of disease activity Does not provide information about vessel wall
Magnetic resonance angiography	Good morphological definition (lumen) Fairly good measurement of arterial wall thickness Allows vision of arterial wall edema Provides information on gadolinium uptake in vessel wall Good sensitivity for assessment of inflammation No radiation	Does not allows vision of small vessels It may overestimate stenosis Expensive
Computed tomography angiography	Good morphological definition (lumen) Fairly good measurement of arterial wall thickness Good imaging of arterial lumen	Radiation Low sensitivity for assessment of disease activity Does not allow vision of small vessels
Doppler ultrasound	Very good measurement of arterial wall thickness Provides fair definition of anatomical details Inexpensive Fair sensitivity for assessment of disease activity No radiation Non-invasive	Operator-dependant Poor definition of descending aorta No direct measure of inflammation
18F-fluoro-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography	Good sensitivity for early assessment of inflammation	Very poor definition of anatomic details Radiation Expensive It may underestimate activity