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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffGiant 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. Most often, it affects 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 frequently causes headaches, jaw pain, and blurred or double vision. Blindness and, less often, stroke are the most serious complications of giant cell arteritis.
Prompt treatment with corticosteroid medications usually relieves symptoms of giant cell arteritis and may prevent loss of vision. You'll likely begin to feel better within days of starting your treatment.
- Giant cell arteritis. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec04/ch033/ch033e.html. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Giant cell arteritis. American College of Rheumatology. http://www.rheumatology.org/practice/clinical/patients/diseases_and_conditions/giantcellarteritis.asp. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Unwin B, et al. Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. American Family Physician. 2006;74:1547.
- Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Polymyalgia/default.asp. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Salvarani C, et al. Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. Lancet. 2008;372:234.
- Gonzalez-Gay MA, et al. Epidemiology of giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatic. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 2009;61:1454.
- Hunder GG. Treatment of giant cell (temporal) arteritis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Hunder GG. Diagnosis of giant cell (temporal) arteritis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Chang-Miller A (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. June 2, 2010.
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