title: Recovery of vision in a 47-year-old man with fulminant giant cell arteritis.
abstract: Giant cell arteritis is a systemic necrotizing vasculitis that often causes profound and irreversible visual loss in elderly individuals. We describe a 47-year-old man with fulminant giant cell arteritis whose clinical picture included severe visual loss and several unusual or previously unreported findings. Aggressive treatment with intravenous corticosteroids resulted in a dramatic improvement in the patient's vision. Although no firm conclusions can be drawn from the outcome in a single case, we believe that, in some patients with arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy, aggressive treatment with intravenous corticosteroids may be associated with a better visual prognosis than treatment by the oral route.
authors.affiliation: Neuro-ophthalmology Service, Duke University Eye Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Postel
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Pollock
mesh_terms: D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013699:Temporal Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014794:Visual Fields
chemical_list: D008775:Methylprednisolone