Crohn's disease and Takayasu's arteritis

Takayasu's arteritis and inflammatory bowel disease are rarely found together in the reported literature. In particular, only one African-American patient with both Crohn's disease and Takayasu's arteritis has been reported. We present a case of an African-American patient previously diagnosed with Crohn's disease who subsequently developed Takayasu's arteritis and then presented with acute rectal bleeding. The differential diagnosis, diagnostic evaluation, and possible common pathophysiologic mechanism between the two diseases are discussed.