title: Giant cell arteritis among Hispanic Americans.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the prevalence and clinical course of giant cell arteritis (GCA) among Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Comparative case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred fifty-seven consecutive patients who underwent temporal artery biopsy in our institution from 1996 to 2002 were studied. A prospective telephone survey was conducted to determine race and Hispanic origin separately by means of methodology of the US Census Bureau.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred thirty-four patients completed the interview, with 65 (49%) identifying themselves as Hispanic and 69 (51%) as non-Hispanic. Of the 32 respondents with biopsy-proven GCA, all identified themselves racially as white, and 13 (41%) were Hispanic and 19 (59%) were non-Hispanic (P = .32). Statistically significant differences in age, presenting symptoms, and final visual acuity were not observed among Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients with GCA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although GCA has been reported to be rare in Hispanics, we found the prevalence and clinical course of GCA to be similar in Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients.
authors.affiliation: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, 900 NW 17th Street, Miami, FL 33136, USA. blam@med.miami.edu
authors.forename: Byron L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Wirthlin
authors.forename: Ariadna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Sander R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Dubovy
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Feuer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013699:Temporal Arteries / Q000473:pathology