Giant-Cell Arteritis: Signs and Symptoms

Giant-cell arteritis is a polysymptomatic disease of the elderly. Systemic symptomatology includes headaches, arthralgias, myalgias, tender temporal arteries, jaw claudication, low-grade fever, anemia, anorexia, malaise, and weight loss. Visual loss from anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and diplopia resulting from ischemia of the ocular muscles represents the major ocular manifestations of giant cell arteritis. When the diagnosis is suspected, blood for a sedimentation rate should be drawn, and, if it confirms the clinical impression, high dose prednisone should be started immediately and a temporal artery biopsy performed at a later date. Only by asking the proper questions and suspecting the diagnosis will this preventable form of blindness receive the prompt attention it deserves.