Vertebrobasilar ischemia and structural abnormalities of the vertebral arteries in active temporal arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica--an ultrasonographic case-control study.

Objective: Temporal arteritis (TA) affects large arteries, including the vertebral arteries in up to 15% of cases. High resolution ultrasonography (US) is widely used for noninvasive imaging of the extracranial vertebral arteries. We assessed the prevalence of vertebrobasilar ischemia and structural abnormalities of the extracranial vertebral arteries by US in patients with TA and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and in healthy controls.