title: Giant cell arteritis. Clinical features and involvement of different organs.
abstract: Sixty-eight patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) are described. In 42, histological evidence of arteritis was recorded at biopsy of a temporal artery. Twenty-six patients were included according to clinical criteria. In 20 patients the onset of illness was associated with an infection. The first symptom was: in 30 patients, muscle pains; in 14, fever; in 11, headache with temporal localization, and in 13 patients, tiredness and anorexia. In all, 50 patients had muscular symptoms and 30 had symptoms of localized temporal arteritis. In 5 patients neither muscular symptoms nor localized arteritis were found. A high erythrocyte sedimentation rate was seen in all cases and elevated platelet count was found in 24 patients. Abnormal liver function was a common finding, whereas impaired renal function was not observed. In 8 cases reversible eye symptoms were noted and reduced hearing capacity was demonstrated in 5 patients.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D005260:Female; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013699:Temporal Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins