Giant Cell Arteritis: Can Simple Ultrasound Examination Prevent Complex Consequences?

Stańska, Wiktoria; Kruszewski, Robert; Juszkiewicz, Aleksandra; Bachta, Artur; Tłustochowicz, Witold

doi:10.3390/diagnostics14182071

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Giant Cell Arteritis: Can Simple Ultrasound Examination Prevent Complex Consequences?

by

Wiktoria Stańska

^*,

Robert Kruszewski

,

Aleksandra Juszkiewicz

,

Artur Bachta

and

Witold Tłustochowicz

Department of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, Military Institute of Medicine—National Research Institute, 04-141 Warsaw, Poland

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Diagnostics 2024, 14(18), 2071; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14182071

Submission received: 29 June 2024 / Revised: 27 August 2024 / Accepted: 13 September 2024 / Published: 19 September 2024

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Vasculitis)

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Abstract

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a rare disease of the arteries, occurring mainly in the elderly. Although the involvement of temporal arteries can be mostly symptomatic, the occlusion of ophthalmic arteries has severe consequences. GCA affecting temporal arteries is an emergency requiring quick commencement of treatment with glucocorticoids due to the serious consequences of neglect—blindness. According to the new guidelines released by EULAR, ultrasound is the tool of choice in support of the clinical diagnosis of giant cell arteritis, replacing temporal artery biopsy (TAB), as it is a sensitive and non-invasive method that is widely available. The main limitation is that the reliability of this imaging is based on the technical expertise of ultrasonographers. However, performing imaging should not delay commencing the treatment. In this work, we present ultrasound images from a case report of a 74-year-old female patient where difficulties in establishing a diagnosis led to vision loss in both eyes. In this example, we describe the ultrasound findings in giant cell arteritis, emphasizing its usefulness in supporting a diagnosis of GCA.

Keywords: GCA; vision loss; headache; ultrasonography; EULAR; OMERACT

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MDPI and ACS Style

Stańska, W.; Kruszewski, R.; Juszkiewicz, A.; Bachta, A.; Tłustochowicz, W. Giant Cell Arteritis: Can Simple Ultrasound Examination Prevent Complex Consequences? Diagnostics 2024, 14, 2071. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14182071

AMA Style

Stańska W, Kruszewski R, Juszkiewicz A, Bachta A, Tłustochowicz W. Giant Cell Arteritis: Can Simple Ultrasound Examination Prevent Complex Consequences? Diagnostics. 2024; 14(18):2071. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14182071

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stańska, Wiktoria, Robert Kruszewski, Aleksandra Juszkiewicz, Artur Bachta, and Witold Tłustochowicz. 2024. "Giant Cell Arteritis: Can Simple Ultrasound Examination Prevent Complex Consequences?" Diagnostics 14, no. 18: 2071. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14182071

APA Style

Stańska, W., Kruszewski, R., Juszkiewicz, A., Bachta, A., & Tłustochowicz, W. (2024). Giant Cell Arteritis: Can Simple Ultrasound Examination Prevent Complex Consequences? Diagnostics, 14(18), 2071. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14182071

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Giant Cell Arteritis: Can Simple Ultrasound Examination Prevent Complex Consequences?

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