[(the current place of non-invasive large-vessel imaging in the diagnosis and follow-up of giant cell arteritis)].

[(the current place of non-invasive large-vessel imaging in the diagnosis and follow-up of giant cell arteritis)]. Rev Med Interne. 2020 Jul 14;: Authors: Liozon E Abstract Large vessel involvement in giant cell arteritis has long been described, although its right frequency and potential prognostic value have only been highlighted for two decades. Large vessel involvement not only is associated with a high incidence of late aortic aneurysms, but also might cause greater resistance to glucocorticoids and longer treatment duration, as well as worse late cardiovascular outcomes. These data were brought to our attention, thanks to substantial progress recently made in large vessel imaging. This relies on four single, often complementary, approaches of varying availability: colour Doppler ultrasound, contrast-enhanced computed tomography with angiography and, magnetic resonance imaging, which all demonstrate homogeneous circumferential wall thickening and describe structural changes; 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT), which depicts wall inflammation and assesses many vascular territories in the same examination. In addition, integrated head-and-neck PET/CT can accurately and reliably diagnose cranial arteritis. All four procedures exhibit high diagnostic performance for a large vessel arteritis diagnosis so that the choice is left to the physician, depending on local practices and accessibil...
Source: Revue de Medecine Interne - Category: Internal Medicine Tags: Rev Med Interne Source Type: research