Giant cell arteritis and rheumatic polymyalgia

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic vasculitis syndrome mainly involving cranial arteries. In the 19th century, Jonathon Hutchinson first described a male patient who had difficulty wearing a cap due to tenderness in the temporal arteries. Since then, the clinical characteristics of GCA have gradually become clear. It is a chronic granulomatous vasculitis. Almost all cases of giant cell arteritis discovered in the early years are affected by the temporal artery, with temporal headache, scalp, and tenderness of the temporal artery, so it is also called temporal arteritis (TA), granulomatous vasculitis, or cranial artery inflammation. It is now known that TA mainly affects arterial branches emanating from the aortic arch, and can also involve other medium-sized arteries. Granuloma can be formed at the site of vascular inflammation, containing giant cells of varying numbers, so it is now called giant cell arteritis. A giant cell refers to any giant cell that can have one or more nuclei, such as a multinuclear giant cell (MGC). It includes two diseases with similar pathologies but different clinical manifestations, namely temporal arteritis (TA) and Takayasus disease. GCA is characterized by temporal headache, intermittent mandibular dyskinesia, and blindness. Its age of onset is above 50 years.

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