Giant cell arteritis

What is Giant cell arteritis?

A rare large vessel vasculitis (LVV) characterized by vasculitis predominantly involving the arteries originating from the aortic arch and the extracranial branches of the carotid arteries. Clinical manifestations are variable, the predominant cranial phenotype is characterized by headache, jaw claudication, scalp tenderness and visual symptoms and the predominant LVV type by constitutional symptoms, polymyalgia rheumatica and occasionally limb ischemia. Overlaps between these two phenotypes are common.

Other condition names

  • Horton disease
  • Temporal arteritis

Inheritance type

Multigenic/multifactorial

Prevalence

  • Europe: 1-5 in 10,000

Age of Onset

  • Adult
Orphadata: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999. Available on "https://www.orphadata.com". Data version 1.3.16 / 4.1.7.