Teresa Sosenko, MD, Anca Musetescu, MD, PhD, Neha Gandhi, MD, Scott Friedstrom, MD, & Diana Girnita, MD, PhD | Issue: January 2018 |
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a granulomatous vasculitis of large- and medium-sized arteries, usually affecting the cranial branches of the aortic arch. It is the most common vasculitis, with the highest risk factor being age. Accurate diagnosis and prompt initiation of therapy are of great importance to prevent serious complications, with the most feared being…
A 49-year-old man presented to the hospital with confusion, dysarthria, expressive aphasia, and progressive gait instability.
Progress toward targeted therapy
A proposed model to predict the risk of giant cell arteritis (GCA) prior to a temporal artery biopsy could help triage patients and guide decision making about the need for biopsy or monitoring (see Figure 1). There’s no specific biomarker for GCA, and GCA can be a “diagnostic conundrum, especially when it presents in an…