Prognosis and long term outcome of stenotic large vessel involvement in giant cell arteritis - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #large vessel-vasculitis
- #giant cell arteritis
- #vascular complications
- Large vessel-vasculitis (LVV) affects up to 70% of giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients, with stenotic involvement being less understood.
- A retrospective study of 3,149 GCA patients identified 198 (6.3%) with stenotic LVV, primarily affecting subclavian (63%), carotid (58%), vertebral (37%), axillary (33%), femoral (30%), and mesenteric arteries (13%).
- Main complications included stroke (31%), limb ischemia (21%), myocardial infarction (4%), and mesenteric ischemia (2%).
- Cumulative incidence of vascular complications was 13.1% at 1 year, 17.3% at 5 years, and 19.5% at 10 years.
- Hierarchical clustering identified three groups, with one cluster (62%) showing older patients, more vertebral artery stenosis, and higher mortality.
- Age at diagnosis and vertebral artery involvement were significantly associated with higher risk of vascular complications.
- Stenotic LVV accounts for less than 10% of GCA cases and is linked to poor vascular prognosis.