To study the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of Takayasu arteritis (TAK) in southeast Norway (population 2.8 million).
All study area hospital databases were screened to capture every potential TAK case between 1999 and 2012. These cases were manually chart reviewed, and only patients fulfilling either the 1990 American College of Rheumatology classification or the 1995 Ishikawa diagnostic criteria were included.
Inclusion criteria were met by 78 patients (68 female, 10 male). Point prevalence (by 2012) segregated by ethnic origin was 22.0 per 10
We report 2-4 times higher population prevalence than previously observed, and the highest prevalence ever found in Norwegians of Asian and African descent. The results support the idea that TAK in northern Europeans is marked by limited arterial involvement and older age at onset.