Giant Cell Artertis
also known as Temporal Arteritis,
Cranial Arteritis and Granulomatous
Arteritis
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is an inflammation of the lining of your
arteries — the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood from your heart to the rest of your body.
Although giant cell arteritis can affect the arteries in your neck,
upper body and arms, it occurs most often in the arteries in your head, especially those in your temples. For this reason,
giant cell arteritis is sometimes called temporal arteritis or cranial arteritis. Giant cell arteritis is also known as granulomatous
arteritis — a reference to a particular type of inflammation.
Signs and Symptoms:
Signs
and symptoms of giant cell arteritis can vary. For some people, the onset of the condition feels like the flu — with
muscle aches (myalgia), fever and fatigue, as well as headache.
Other common signs and symptoms include:
- Decreased visual acuity or double vision.
- Scalp tenderness. It may hurt to comb your hair or even to lay your
head on a pillow, especially where the arteries are inflamed.
- Jaw pain (jaw claudication) when you chew.
- Pain and stiffness in your neck, arms or hips — usually worse
in the morning before you get out of bed. These are often common symptoms of a related disorder, polymyalgia rheumatica. More
than one in four people with GCA also have polymyalgia rheumatica.
- Sudden, permanent loss of vision in one eye.
- Fever.
- Unintended weight loss.
Links of Interest:
