[Pathology of large vessel vasculitides].

INTRODUCTION: Vasculitides can be classified according to the size of the involved vessels. The pathological patterns of large vessel vasculitides are presented here. CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND KEY POINTS: They concern Buerger's disease, temporal arteritis, Takayasu's disease, Behçet's disease, infectious arteritides, rheumatologic and miscellaneous diseases. Buerger's disease is a thrombotic arteriopathy with no arterial wall involvement. Temporal arteritis and Takayasu's disease belong to the group of giant cell arteritides. In temporal arteritis, the inflammation is prominent in the internal part of the media and is aggressive for the arterial wall. In Takayasu's disease, the external part of the media is prominently involved. The fibrous thickening of the arterial wall with stenosis is characteristic. Behçet's disease can involve the large arteries with a risk of arterial rupture. Infectious arteritides are not unfrequent in vascular surgery and in previous arterial lesions. Rheumatologic diseases can result in aortitis with aortic incompetence. FUTURE PROSPECTS AND PROJECTS: These diseases have pathological characteristics which contribute to diagnosis. However, a clearcut classification of vasculitides will come from the precise knowledge of their etiology.