Upper respiratory tract and orofacial manifestations of new-onset giant cell arteritis: results from a large, prospective inception cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) often features upper respiratory tract (URT) and orofacial manifestations, which signal the involvement of external carotid artery branches. In this study, we aimed to describe the frequency of various URT/orofacial symptoms at GCA onset, as well as the main characteristics of patients presenting these symptoms. METHODS: We included all patients who were newly diagnosed with GCA between 1976 and April 2022 at the Internal Medicine Department of a tertiary-care hospital. Ten URT or orofacial symptoms were prospectively examined systematically in each patient. We used multivariate analyses to identify the GCA characteristics, including URT/orofacial symptoms, associated with temporal artery biopsy (TAB) positivity. RESULTS: At least 1 URT/orofacial symptom was present in 68.6% of the 599 patients (3 or more symptoms in 30% of cases). Jaw claudication, maxillary pain, and pain during mouth opening were the most prevalent symptoms. Dry cough was recorded in 17% of cases. GCA patients with URT/orofacial symptoms had more clinical abnormalities of the temporal artery bed and ischaemic ophthalmological complications, but less large-vessel vasculitis according to imaging. The likelihood of a positive TAB was increased in patients with an abnormal temporal artery upon clinical examination (OR 4.16; CI 2.75-6.37, p < 0.001) or jaw claudication (OR 2.18; CI 1.35-3.65, p = 0.002), and decreased in those with hoarseness (OR 0.47; CI 0.26-0.87, p = 0.02) or earache (OR 0.54; CI 0.31-0.95, p = 0.03). Isolated URT/orofacial presentation (i.e., without headache or visual signs) accounted for 5.2% of the entire cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Oral-facial symptoms were present in two-thirds of GCS cases. Thus, they could serve as leading clinical clues for a GCA diagnosis, and are a risk factor for permanent visual loss. Several URT/orofacial symptoms such as jaw claudication, hoarseness, and earache influenced the likelihood of a positive TAB. Isolated URT/orofacial presentation of GCA is a rare but potentially challenging occurrence.

[Covid-19: clinical aspects and management]. / Covid-19 : aspects cliniques et principaux éléments de prise en charge.

Asymptomatic infections are not rare and most patients complain with fever and respiratory signs. Clinical signs are polymorphic and aspecific. Chest CT scan is commonly used as a diagnostic and triage tool in patients admitted to hospitalization. The 2 main complications are respiratory distress related to worsening pneumonia with an associated cytokine storm occurring mostly 7 to 10 days after disease onset, and thromboembolic disease. The fatality rate is around 2%. In-hospital management includes oxygen supply when needed and prevention of thromboembolic disease. Associated bacterial infections seem to be rare. Remdesivir might reduce the time to recovery in hospitalized patients needing an oxygen supply. Dexamethasone might reduce the fatality rate in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The development of many candidate vaccines gives hope to fight the pandemic.