AI Article Synopsis

  • Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a rare disease mainly found in older people, and it can cause serious problems like blindness if not treated quickly.
  • Doctors now prefer using ultrasound instead of a biopsy to diagnose GCA because it's easier and safer, but it needs skilled technicians to work properly.
  • A case of a 74-year-old woman shows how important it is to diagnose GCA quickly with ultrasound, as delays in treatment can lead to vision loss.

Article 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.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11431179PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14182071DOI Listing

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