Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects medium- and large-sized arteries. The diagnostic gold standard is the temporal artery biopsy, but it has limited sensitivity and some difficulties in reproducibility. Color duplex ultrasonography is a noninvasive, reproducible, and inexpensive method for diagnosis of temporal arteries involvement (temporal arteritis [TA]) ...

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) are clinical diagnoses without "gold standard" serological or histological tests, excluding temporal artery biopsy for GCA. Further, other conditions may mimic GCA and PMR. Treatment with 10-20 mg of prednisolone daily is suggested for PMR or 40-60 mg daily for GCA when temporal arteritis is suspected. This ocular involvement of GCA sh...

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a vasculitis of unknown etiology that affects medium-sized and large arteries, and is the most common form of vasculitis in populations of predominantly Northern European ancestry. If left untreated, GCA can lead to significant morbidity including blindness, stroke, aortic aneurysm and dissection, as well as large-artery stenosis. Glucocorticosteroids are in genera...

OBJECTIVES CD226 genetic variants have been associated with a number of autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential implication of the CD226 loci in the susceptibility to and main clinical manifestations of giant cell arteritis (GCA). METHODS A Spanish Caucasian cohort of 455 patients diagnosed with biopsy-proven GCA and 1414 healthy controls were included in t...

AIM Apoptosis has been considered as a fundamental component in cancer pathogenesis, and related genetic factors might play an important role in gastric cardiac adenocarcinoma (GCA) genesis. METHODS We conducted a hospital based case-control study to evaluate the genetic effects of functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): BCL2 rs17757541 C>G, BCL2 rs12454712 T>C, FAS rs2234767 G>A, ...

BACKGROUND Over-expression and increased activity of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 induced by smoking has been implicated in the development of cancer. This study aimed to explore the interaction between smoking and functional polymorphisms of COX-2 in modulation of gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA) risk. METHODS AND FINDINGS Three COX-2 polymorphisms, including -1195G>A (rs689466), -765G>C (rs204...

BACKGROUND To update community-based prevalence values for Polymyalgia Rheumatic (PMR) and Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) using case record review supplemented by population survey and subsequent clinical review. METHODS Clinical data were obtained from case records of a large primary care practice in Norfolk, UK and reviewed for diagnoses of GCA and PMR. In addition postal survey was carried out...

OBJECTIVES Clinical management of giant cell arteritis (GCA) involves balancing the risks and burdens arising from the disease with those arising from treatment, but there is little research on the nature of those burdens. We aimed to explore the impact of giant cell arteritis (GCA) and its treatment on patients' lives. METHODS UK patients with GCA participated in semi-structured telephone in...

Temporal arteritis, also known as giant cell arteritis (GCA), is a systemic vasculitis that predominantly involves the temporal arteries. It is a medical emergency and should be treated promptly as it can lead to permanent loss of vision. It is very commonly associated with a raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), usually >50 mm/h, one of the essential criteria defined by the American Col...

OBJECTIVE To investigate potential associations between toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to, and clinical features of giant cell arteritis (GCA). METHODS A total of 155 patients with biopsy-proven GCA who were residents of Reggio Emilia, Italy, and 210 population-based controls from the same geographical area were genotyped for two coding single nucleotide pol...