title: Giant cell arteritis (Horton's disease) in very elderly patients aged 80 years and older: A study of 25 cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Analysis of the characteristics of very elderly patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients aged 80 years and older diagnosed with GCA in our department between 1 January 2002 and 31 July 2008 were retrospectively included. For each patient, we recorded general characteristics, reason(s) for hospitalization, specialty of the physician or department that referred the patient to us, medical history, treatment at admission, GCA clinical features, time to diagnosis of GCA, biological screening and GCA treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We analyzed 25 clinical records, 18 women and seven men with a mean age of 83.9 years. General weakness, visual loss and inflammatory syndrome were the principal reasons for hospitalization. Patients were mainly referred by general practitioners or ophthalmological departments. At diagnosis, headache and musculoskeletal disorders were the most frequent signs (52% each), before general weakness and visual disorders. Time to diagnosis was 2.2 months. Inflammatory syndrome was very frequent (92%). Biopsy of the temporal artery confirmed GCA in 16 cases. Corticosteroid therapy (CST) mean dose was 0.9 mg/kg/day. Because of the positive evolution, CST was stopped in nine patients after 22.7 ± 15 months. A total of 22 patients received a preventive osteoporosis treatment. After 3 months of CST, clinical signs and IS vanished in 22 patients. CST complications, mainly infection, appeared in 17 patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinical and biological features of GCA in the very elderly patients of the present study were comparable with those described in the literature in younger patients. However, it must be pointed out that our patients were not compared with a younger population in this study. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2015; ●●: ●●-●●.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Systemic Diseases, University Hospital, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Géraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Systemic Diseases, University Hospital, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Devilliers
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Systemic Diseases, University Hospital, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Besancenot
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics and Internal Medicine, Hospital of Champmaillot, University Hospital, Dijon, France.|Inserm/U1093 Motricity-Plasticity, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manckoundia
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D011111:Polymyalgia Rheumatica / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones
keywords: corticosteroid therapy; giant cell arteritis; very elderly subjects