Clinical analysis of 19 cases of giant cell arteritis / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

The clinical data of 19 cases of giant cell arteritis (GCA) including 8 males and 11 females aged 21-92 y (average 62.2 y) from July 2002 to September 2008 were retrospectively reviewed.Among 19 patients,15 first visited the neurology department and 4 the rheumatism department;8 had fever and 16 had headache as primary symptom;the ESR ranged from 20 to 130 mm/1 h (average 71.1 mm/1 h).Fourteen patients were diagnosed as GCA at admission and 18 were treated with steroids hormone and all got remission except 1 death and 2 recurrences.If temporal artery biopsy is not acceptable,integrated analysis of signs,symptoms,laboratory tests,treatment effectiveness and follow-up is important for the correct diagnosis of GCA.