Mirouse A, et al. - Researchers determined the long-term mortality and prognosis factors in a cohort of 318 patients fulfilling American College of Rheumatology and/or Ishikawa criteria of Takayasu arteritis (TA). At the end of a median follow-up of 6.1 years, the overall mortality in the Takayasu cohort was 5%. Based on the presence of two of the following factors (i.e a progressive clinical course, thoracic aorta involvement, and/or retinopathy), patients at high risk for death and vascular complications were defined. A higher likelihood of death was seen among TA patients who are smokers and Caucasians. Relative to age and sex matched healthy controls, TA patients had an increased mortality.