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Conclusion
Princess Peachs’ diagnostic imaging tests suggests she has type V TA, as there is involvement in
her left CCA, left subclavian artery, ascending and descending aorta, along with the abdominal
aorta and right renal artery. According to Sharma’s criteria, a physician is likely to diagnose TA
because Peach’s signs and symptoms indicate a high probability of TA. In fact, Peach has 3
major criteria including a fever longer than one month, a difference in brachial pressures
between the right and left side, and a lesion in the left subclavian artery. Her six minor criteria
include lesions in the descending and abdominal aorta, right pulmonary artery, and left CCA,
along with a high ESR and blood pressure. As Peach has renal artery involvement, transluminal
angioplasty is a potential interventional treatment and surgery is avoided since she is in an active
stage of disease (Johnston et al., 2002).
Sonographers should take extra precaution during carotid scanning when there is requisition
requesting to rule out TA, as the carotid involvement ranges between 45 to 84 percent, (Ma et al.,
2019). US is used in the early detection for TA, so thorough knowledge is key to obtain images
in order to diagnose and treat TA in a timely manner resulting in a lower risk of complications
(Matsuura et al., 2018). This knowledge includes the awareness of which arteries to closely
examine while looking for key elements such as the macaroni sign in 2D-B mode, stenotic
waveform changes in SD, and velocity and direction of flow in both SD and CD.