Axillofemoral bypass to improve congestive heart failure for atypical aortic coarctation complicating Takayasu arteritis.

Atypical aortic coarctation is a rare condition associated with Takayasu arteritis, and is characterized by symptoms caused either by hypotension in the lower half of the body or secondary hypertension in the upper half of the body, and heart failure. We report a rare case of axillofemoral bypass to improve congestive heart failure for atypical aortic coarctation complicating Takayasu arteritis. Augmented vascular bed and retrograde renal blood flow after axillofemoral bypass surgery could achieve effective blood pressure control and improve renal function and cardiac function (LVEF: 30% → 55%, BNP: 2943 pg/mL → 128 pg/mL). There were two contributing factors for improvement of heart failure such as the increased vascular bed and the increase in retrograde renal blood flow. We believe that axillofemoral bypass is effective for Takayasu arteritis patients with refractory heart failure. In daily practice, careful attention should be paid to an impact of cardiorenal-aorta interaction in atypical aortic coarctation complicating Takayasu arteritis.