[Aortic involvement in giant cell arteritis. A prospective follow-up of 11 patients using computed tomography].
OBJECTIVE
To determine clinical and radiological features, using computed tomography (CT-scan) in patients with aortic involvement related to giant cell arteritis (GCA), and to assess both clinical and CT-scan outcome after therapy institution.


METHODS
Aortic involvement due to GCA was investigated in all patients, using CT-scan at diagnosis, and at 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up after therapy institution.


RESULTS
The 11 consecutive patients consisted of 4 men and 7 women with mean age of 64.5 years. Patients exhibited: constitutional symptoms (N=9; 82%), dorsalgia (N=3; 27%), clinical signs of GCA (N=3; 27%) and of upper limb large vessel impairment (N=6; 55%). CT-scan showed aortitis involving both thoracic and abdominal aorta (N=6; 55%), abdominal (N=2; 18%) or thoracic aorta (N=2; 18%) and thoracic aortic aneurysm (N=1; 9%). At one-year follow-up, CT-scan revealed: complete resolution (N=7; 64%) and improvement (N=3; 27%) of aortic damage; the patient, who had thoracic aortic aneurysm, underwent surgical treatment, as aortic lesion remained unchanged on CT-scan.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study underlines that CT-scan is a helpful test in diagnosis and follow-up of aortic involvement in patients with GCA.
Hervé
F
F
Département de Médecine Interne, CHU de Rouen-Boisguillaume, 76031 Rouen cedex, France.
Choussy
V
V
Janvresse
A
A
Cailleux
N
N
Levesque
H
H
Marie
I
I
D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D017545:Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001025:Aortitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed