A 55-year-old woman presented with an history of abdominal postprandial pain, initially sporadic (after rich meal), then more and more frequent, and finally coliky-like.

Twenty-four months after the procedure the patient is still in good health: no more abdominal postprandial pain. After complete diagnostic workup a diagnosis of Takayasu’s Arteritis was made; meantime the patient follows a glucocorticoid therapy.

Takayasu’s disease (“pulseless disease”) is an idiopathic chronic inflammatory disorder that most often affects aorta and its branches; the splanchnic vessels unusually are involved. It is most prevalent in adolescent girls and young women and, although more common in the Orient, it is neither racially nor geographically restricted. An association of the disease has been described with HLA-DR2, MB1 in Japan and HLA-DR4, MB3 in the United States and with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The disease is a panarteritis with inflammatory mononuclear cell infiltrates and occasionally giant cells.

There is marked intimal proliferation and fibrosis, scarring and vascularization of the media and disruption and degeneration of the elastic lamina leading to narrowing of lumen with or without thrombosis, aneurysm and rarely rupture of involved vessels. The vasa vasorum are frequently involved. Treatment is large doses of glucocorticoids prior to reconstructive surgery, and the 5-year survival rate is higher than 90%.