Malignant hypertension as a presenting symptom of Takayasu arteritis.

We present an unusual case of malignant hypertension in a 20-year-old white woman. One week before hospitalization, she experienced occasional abdominal pain and claudication of both legs; otherwise, she had no remarkable medical history, including no history of high blood pressure. The origin of the patient's hypertension was renovascular, and the vascular injury was due to vasculitis of the large arteries. The combination of a difference in blood pressure between the patient's arms, angiographic findings, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and lack of markers for specific vasculitis led to the diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis. Surgical intervention was successful.