title: Temporal arteritis with scalp ulceration and blindness.
abstract: Temporal arteritis or giant cell arteritis is a systemic granulomatous vasculitis of medium and large-sized arteries, most frequently involving the temporal artery. It presents with headache, fever, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and anemia. If untreated, complications like ischemic optic neuritis may even lead to blindness. Although very rare, scalp necrosis and ulcerations are the most common dermatologic findings. An 85-year-old woman presented with a two-month history of bilateral scalp ulcerations, followed by permanent loss of vision in the left eye due to the delay in diagnosing temporal arteritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatovenereology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. spyros@centrum.cz
authors.forename: Spyridon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gkalpakiotis
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arenberger
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sach
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arenbergerova
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001766:Blindness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D012536:Scalp Dermatoses / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012883:Skin Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome