Aortitis can be the manifestation of an underlying infectious or noninfectious 
disease process. An autoimmune cause is suggested in a large proportion of 
noninfectious causes. Similar to other autoimmune diseases, the pathophysiology 
of aortitis has been investigated in detail, but the etiology remains unknown. 
Most cases of aortitis often go undetected for a long time and are often 
identified at late stages of the disease. Recent advances in imaging techniques 
have significantly improved the diagnosis of aortitis. However, significant 
challenges associated with the imaging techniques limit their use. Several 
routine inflammation-based markers, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate 
(ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and inflammatory cytokines, are nonspecific 
and, therefore, have limited use in the diagnosis of aortitis. The search for 
more specific serum biomarkers, which can facilitate detection and progression 
is under progress. Several autoantibodies have been identified, but assigning 
their role in the pathogenesis as well as their specificity remains a challenge. 
The current review addresses some of these issues in detail. KEY MESSAGES: • 
Noninfectious aortitis is an autoimmune disease. • Several biomarkers, including 
cytokines and autoantibodies, are increased in aortitis. • Imaging techniques, 
commonly used to detect aortitis, are associated with the high cost and 
technical challenges. • There is a need to develop low-cost biomarker-based 
detection tools. • The knowledge of biomarkers in aortitis detection is 
discussed.