Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body. Arteritis is inflammation of your arteries. Blood vessel inflammation in general is called vasculitis Overview of Vasculitis Vasculitis is inflammation of blood vessels. Vasculitis can affect any size or type of blood vessel It may affect many blood vessels in many organs or just a few vessels in 1 or 2 organs The... read more .
What is giant cell arteritis?
Giant cell arteritis is a type of vasculitis Overview of Vasculitis Vasculitis is inflammation of blood vessels. Vasculitis can affect any size or type of blood vessel It may affect many blood vessels in many organs or just a few vessels in 1 or 2 organs The... read more that affects some of your larger arteries. It's sometimes called temporal arteritis because it very often affects an artery on your temple (the side of your head).
Giant cell arteritis usually involves the large arteries that go from your heart to your neck and head
Doctors don’t know what causes giant cell arteritis
It usually affects only people over 55
You may have severe headaches, pain in your scalp when you brush your hair, and pain in your jaw when you chew food
Giant cell arteritis may lead to blindness or stroke if you don’t get treatment right away
Doctors do a blood test and a biopsy (take a sample of tissue) from one of your arteries
Doctors will have you take high doses of a corticosteroid such as prednisone
What causes giant cell arteritis?
Doctors don’t know what causes giant cell arteritis.
What are the symptoms of giant cell arteritis?
Symptoms of giant cell arteritis may start suddenly or come on slowly over several weeks.
You may have general symptoms such as fever, sweating, and feeling tired and ill. About half of people have stiff, painful muscles in their neck, shoulders, and hips. The pain and stiffness are worse in the morning, similar to what happens in polymyalgia rheumatica Polymyalgia Rheumatica PMR is an inflammatory condition that causes severe pain and stiffness in the muscles of your neck, back, shoulders, and hips. Doctors don’t know what causes PMR It usually occurs in people... read more .
Specific symptoms depend on which artery is affected and can include:
Severe, throbbing headache in your temples or the back of your head
Blurry vision, double vision, sudden blindness in one eye
Jaw pain when chewing
Rarely, giant cell arteritis affects your aorta, the main artery coming out of your heart. You may get chest pain caused by an aortic aneurysm Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms Thoracic aortic aneurysms are aneurysms in the part of the aorta that passes through the chest (thorax). Thoracic has to do with the chest (thorax). The aorta is the main blood vessel (artery)... read more 
or aortic dissection Aortic Dissection The aorta is the main blood vessel (artery) that carries blood away from your heart to the rest of your body. The wall of the aorta has several layers. A small tear in the inside layer lets... read more .
How can doctors tell if I have giant cell arteritis?
If your symptoms seem like giant cell arteritis, doctors will do:
Blood tests
Biopsy of one of your temporal arteries (take a piece of the artery in your temple to look at under a microscope)
How do doctors treat giant cell arteritis?
To treat giant cell arteritis, doctors will have you take:
A high dose of a corticosteroid such as prednisone
They'll try to give you the medicine as soon as possible to prevent blindness.
Doctors try to lower the dose of prednisone after about a month. But you may need to keep taking a lower dose for a long time, sometimes up to 2 years. People who take corticosteroids for a long time can develop:
Thinning of their bones
Doctors may prescribe calcium and vitamin D to prevent bone loss. They also give you a low dose of aspirin each day to help prevent a stroke Stroke A stroke is a sudden brain problem that happens when a blood vessel in your brain either gets blocked or breaks open and bleeds. As with all organs in the body, the brain needs oxygen and nutrients... read more .
Drugs Mentioned In This Article
| Generic Name | Select Brand Names |
|---|---|
prednisone |
Deltasone, Predone, RAYOS, Sterapred, Sterapred DS |
vitamin d |
Calcidol, Calciferol, D3 Vitamin, DECARA, Deltalin, Dialyvite Vitamin D, Dialyvite Vitamin D3, Drisdol, D-Vita, Enfamil D-Vi-Sol, Ergo D, Fiber with Vitamin D3 Gummies Gluten-Free, Happy Sunshine Vitamin D3, MAXIMUM D3, PureMark Naturals Vitamin D, Replesta, Replesta Children's, Super Happy SUNSHINE Vitamin D3, Thera-D 2000, Thera-D 4000, Thera-D Rapid Repletion, THERA-D SPORT, UpSpring Baby Vitamin D, UpSpring Baby Vitamin D3, YumVs, YumVs Kids ZERO, YumVs ZERO |
aspirin |
Anacin Adult Low Strength, Aspergum, Aspir-Low, Aspirtab , Aspir-Trin , Bayer Advanced Aspirin, Bayer Aspirin, Bayer Aspirin Extra Strength, Bayer Aspirin Plus, Bayer Aspirin Regimen, Bayer Children's Aspirin, Bayer Extra Strength, Bayer Extra Strength Plus, Bayer Genuine Aspirin, Bayer Low Dose Aspirin Regimen, Bayer Womens Aspirin , BeneHealth Aspirin, Bufferin, Bufferin Extra Strength, Bufferin Low Dose, DURLAZA, Easprin , Ecotrin, Ecotrin Low Strength, Genacote, Halfprin, MiniPrin, St. Joseph Adult Low Strength, St. Joseph Aspirin, VAZALORE, Zero Order Release Aspirin, ZORprin |
