Giant cell arteritis: controversial issues

Česká verzia

Authors: Štefan Alušík
Authors place of work: Katedra vnitřního lékařství, Institut postgraduálního vzdělávání ve zdravotnictví, Praha
Published in the journal: Vnitř Lék 2021; 67(4): 224-229
Category: Review Articles

Summary

Giant cell arteritis is the most common vasculitis in adults. The author presents the latest findings in diagnostics and treatment emphasising the growing importance of non-invasive examination methods where a biopsy of the temporal artery is no longer considered the only possible examination that confirms the diagnosis. He emphasises the importance of early diagnosis and initiation of treatment and also points out difficulties in treatment, especially frequent relapses. In addition to glucocorticoids, modern drugs influencing the decisive factors in the pathogenesis of inflammation are beginning to gain ground in treatment. Despite of new findings, there is a number of controversial issues remaining that the author addresses in more details: from terminology and epidemiology to diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords:

giant cell arteritis – temporal artery biopsy – non-invasive diagnostics – glucocorticoids – tocilizumab

Zdroje

1. Jennette JC, Falk RJ, Bacon PA et al. 2012 Revised International Chapel Hill Consensus Conference Nomenclature of Vasculitides. Arthritis Rheum 2013; 66(1): 1–11.

2. Hunder GG.The Early History of Giant Cell Arteritis and Polymyalgia Rheumatica: First Descriptions to 1970. Mayo Clin Proc. 2006; 81(8): 1071–108.

3. Hutchinson J. Diseases of the arteries. Arch Surg (London) 1889/90; 1: 323–329.

4. Horton BT, Magath TB, Brown GE. An undescribed form of arteritis of the temporal vessels. Proc Staff Meet Mayo Clin. 1932; 7: 700–701.

5. Gilmour JR. Giant-cell chronic arteritis. J Pathol Bacteriol. 1941; 53: 263–277.

6. Kilbourne ED, Wolff HG. Cranial arteritis: A critical evaluation of the syndrome of „temporal arteritis“ with report of a case. Ann Intern Med 1946; 24(1): 1–10.

7. Andersen T. Arteritis temporalis (Horton): a survey and a case with glaucoma. Acta Med Scand. 1947; 128: 151–178.

8. McMillan GC. Diffuse granulomatous aortitis with giant cells associated with partial rupture and dissection of the aorta. AMA Arch Pathol. 1950; 49(1): 63–69.

9. Olhagen B. Polymyalgia rheumatica: a form of senile arteritis? Acta Rheumatol Scand. 1963; 9: 157–164.

10. Hamrin B, Jonsson N, Landberg T. Arteritis in “polymyalgia rheumatica.” Lancet 1964; 1: 397–401.

11. Alestig K, Barr J.Giant-cell arteritis. A biopsy study of polymyalgia rheumatica, including one case of Takayasu‘s disease. Lancet. 1963; 1(7293): 1228–1230.

12. Cantini F, Niccoli L, Storri L et al. Are Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis the Same Disease? Semin Arthritis Rheum 2004; 33(5): 294–301.

13. Kermani TA. Takayasu arteritis and giant cell arteritis: are they a spectrum of the same disease? Int J Rheum Dis 2019; 22: 41–48.

14. Sharma A, Mohammad AJ, Turesson C. Incidence and prevalence of giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica: A systematic literature review. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2020; 50(5): 1040–1048.

15. Crowson CS, Matteson EL. Contemporary prevalence estimates for giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica, 2015. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2017; 47(2): 253–256.

16. Mackie SL, Taylor JC, Haroon-Rashid L et al. Association of HLA-DRB1 amino acid residues with giant cell arteritis: genetic association study, meta-analysis and geo-epidemiological investigation. Arthritis Res Ther. 2015; 17(1): 195.

17. Verdijk RM, Ouwendijk WJD, Kuijpers RWAM, Verjans GMGM. No Evidence of Varicella- Zoster Virus Infection in Temporal Artery Biopsies of Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Patients With and Without Giant Cell Arteritis. J Infect Dis. 2021; 4; 223(1): 109–112.

18. Watanabe R, Goronzy JJ, Berry G, Liao YJ, Weyand CM. Giant Cell Arteritis: From Pathogenesis to Therapeutic Management. Curr Treatm Opt Rheumatol. 2016; 2(2): 126–137.

19. Imai N, Kuroda R, Konishi T, Serizawa M, Kobari M. Giant cell arteritis: clinical features of patients visiting a headache clinic in Japan. Intern Med 2011; 50(16): 1679–1682.

20. Mollan SP, Paemeleire K, Versijpt J et al. European Headache Federation recommendations for neurologists managing giant cell arteritis. J Headache Pain 2020; 21, 28.

21. Birkhead NC, Wagener HP, Shick RM. Treatment of temporal arteritis with adrenal corticosteroids: Results in 55 cases in which the lesion was proved at biopsy. J Am Med Assoc. 1957; 163(10): 821–827.

22. Singh AG, Kermani TA, Crowson CS et al. Visual manifestations in giant cell arteritis: trend over 5 decades in a population-based cohort. J Rheumatol 2015; 42: 309–315.

23. Patil P, Williams M, Maw WW et al. Fast track pathway reduces sight loss in giant cell arteritis: results of a longitudinal observational cohort study. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2015; 33 (2 Suppl 89): S-103-6.

24. Vodopivec J, Rizzo, III.JF. Ophthalmic manifestations of giant cell arteritis, Rheumatology 2018; 57: ii63–ii72.

25. Chen JJ, Leavitt JA, Fang C et al. Evaluating the Incidence of Arteritic Ischemic Optic Neuropathy and Other Causes of Vision Loss from Giant Cell Arteritis. Ophthalmology 2016; 123(9): 1999–2003.

26. Peral-Cagigal B, Pérez-Villar Á, Redondo-González LM et al. Temporal headache and jaw claudication may be the key for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis. Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2018;23(3): e290–e294.

27. Larivière, Delphine et al. Extra-and intracranial cerebral vasculitis in giant cell arteritis: an observational study. Medicine 2014; 93(28): e265.

28. Lie JT. Aortic and extracranial large vessel giant cell arteritis: a review of 72 cases with histopathologic documentation. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 1995; 24(6): 422–431.

29. Nuenninghoff DM, Hunder GG, Christianson TJ et al. Mortality of large-artery complication (aortic aneurysm, aortic dissection, and/or large-artery stenosis) in patients with giant cell arteritis: a population-based study over 50 years. Arthritis Rheum 2003; 48: 3532–3537.

30. Greigert H, Zeller M, Putot A et al. Myocardial infarction during giant cell arteritis: A cohort study. Eur. J. Intern Med 2021; 17: S0953-6205(21)00038-8.

31. Zenone T. Fever of unknown origin in rheumatic diseases. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2007; 21(4): 1115–1135, x–xi.

32. Milchert M, Brzosko M. Tunnel Vision in a Patient with Polymyalgia Rheumatica. J Rheumatol. 2020; 47(1): 155–156.

33. Prior JA, Ranjbar H, Belcher J et al. Diagnostic delay for giant cell arteritis – a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Med 2017; 15: 120.

34. Hunder GG, Bloch DA, Michel BA, Stevens MB, Arend WP, Calabrese LH et al. The American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of giant cell arteritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1990; 33: 1122–1128.

35. Murchison AP, Gilbert ME, Bilyk JR et al. Validity of the American College of Rheumatology criteria for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis. Am J Ophthalmol. 2012; 154(4): 722–729.

36. van der Geest KSM, Wayel H, Abdulahad WV et al. Serum markers associated with disease activity in giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica, Rheumatology 2015; 54(8): 1397–1402.

37. Hellmich B, Agueda A, Monti S et al. 2018 Update of the EULAR recommendations for the management of large vessel vasculitis. Ann Rheum Dis 2020; 79 (1): 19–30.

38. Mackie SL, Dejaco C, Appenzeller S et al. British Society for Rheumatology guideline on diagnosis and treatment of giant cell arteritis, Rheumatology 2020; 59(3): e1–e23.

39. Chu R, Foster C, Ali M et al. Optimal length and usefulness of temporal artery biopsies in the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis: a 10- year retrospective review of medical records. Lancet Rheumatol 2020; 2(12): E 744–E 778.

40. Dasgupta B. Giant Cell Arteritis Guideline Development Group. Concise guidance: diagnosis and management of giant cell arteritis. Clin Med (Lond). 2010; 10(4): 381–386.

41. Stacy RC, Rizzo JF, Dean M, Cestari DM. Subtleties in the Histopathology of Giant Cell Arteritis. Seminars in Ophthalmology 2011; 26: 4–5, 342–348.

42. Dejaco C, Ramiro S, Duftner C et al. EULAR recommendations for the use of imaging in large vessel vasculitis in clinical practice Ann Rheum Dis2018; 77(5): 636–643.

43. Luqmani R, Lee E, Singh S et al. The Role of Ultrasound Compared to Biopsy of Temporal Arteries in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Giant Cell Arteritis (TABUL): a diagnostic accuracy and cost-effectiveness study. Health Technol Assess. 2016; 20(90): 1–238.

44. Theunissen P, Kliffen M, Dees A. Giant-cell Arteritis of the Ovarian Arteries: A Rare Manifestation of a Common Disease. Eur J Case Rep Intern Med. 2018; 5(5): 000779.

45. Blockmans, D. Use of FDG-PET Scan for the Assessment of Large Vessel Vasculitis. Curr Treat Options in Rheum 2016; 2: 153–160.

46. Ray-Chaudhuri N, Kiné DA, Tijani SO et al. Effect of prior steroid treatment on temporal artery biopsy findings in giant cell arteritis. Br J Ophthalmol. 2002; 86(5): 530–532.

47. Achkar AA, Lie JT, Hunder GG, O‘Fallon WM, Gabriel SE. How does previous corticosteroid treatment affect the biopsy findings in giant cell (temporal) arteritis? Ann Intern Med. 1994; 120(12): 987–992.

48. Narváez B, Bernad D, Roig-Vilaseca C et al. Influence of previous corticosteroid therapy on temporal artery biopsy yield in giant cell arteritis. Semin Arthritis Rheum 2007; 37: 13–19.

49. Hellmich B, Águeda AF, Monti S et al. Treatment of Giant Cell Arteritis and Takayasu Arteritis— Current and Future. Curr Rheumatol Rep 2020; 22, 84.

50. Strehl C, Bijlsma JWJ, de Wit M et al. Defining conditions where long-term glucocorticoid treatment has an acceptably low level of harm to facilitate implementation of existing recommendations: viewpoints from an EULAR task force. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016; 75(6): 952–957.

51. Ponte C, Rodrigues AF, O’Neill L, Luqmani RA. Giant cell arteritis: Current treatment and management. World J Clin Cases 2015; 3(6): 484–494.

52. Koster MJ, Yeruva K, Crowson CS, Muratore F, Labarca C, Warrington KJ. Efficacy of Methotrexate in Real-world Management of Giant Cell Arteritis: A Case-control Study. J Rheumatol. 2019; 46(5): 501–508.

53. Mahr AD, Jover JA, Spiera RF et al. Adjunctive Methotrexate for Treatment of Giant Cell Arteritis. An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis.Arth Rheum 2007; 56(8): 2789–2797.

54. Stone JH, Tuckwell K, Dimonaco S et al. Trial of Tocilizumab in Giant-Cell Arteritis. N Engl J Med. 2017; 27; 377(4): 317–328.

55. Harrington R, Al Nokhatha SA, Conway R. Biologic Therapies for Giant Cell Arteritis. Biologics. 2021; 15: 17–29.

56. Sugihara T, Hasegawa H, Uchida HA et al. Associated factors of poor treatment outcomes in patients with giant cell arteritis: clinical implication of large vessel lesions. Arthritis Res Ther 2020; 22(72): 1–12.

57. Maleszewski JJ, Younge BR, Fritzlen JT et al. Clinical and pathological evolution of giant cell arteritis: a prospective study of follow-up temporal artery biopsies in 40 treated patients. Mod Pathol. 2017; 30(6): 788–796.

58. Nesher G, Poltorak V, Hindi I et al. Survival of patient with giant cell arteritis: Impact of vision loss and treatment with aspirin. Autoimmun Rev. 2019; 18(8): 831–834.

59. Dinkin M, Johnson E. One Giant Step for Giant Cell Arteritis: Updates in Diagnosis and Treatment. Curr Treat Options Neurol 2021; 23: 6.

60. Turesson C, Börjesson O, Larsson K, Mohammad AJ, Knight A. Swedish Society of Rheumatology 2018 guidelines for investigation, treatment, and follow-up of giant cell arteritis. Scand J Rheumatol. 2019; 48(4): 259–265.

61. Crow RW, Katz BJ, Warner JE et al. Giant cell arteritis and mortality. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2009; 64(3): 365–369.

62. Hill CL, Black RJ, Nossent JC, Ruediger C, Nguyen L, Ninan JV et al. Risk of mortality in patients with giant cell arteritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Semin Arthritis Rheum 2017; 46: 513–519.

63. Mohammad AJ, Nilsson JA, Jacobsson LT, Merkel PA, Turesson C. Incidence and mortality rates of biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis in southern Sweden. Ann Rheum Dis 2015; 74: 993–997.