GIANT CELL ARTERITIS. CLINICAL CASE FROM GP’S PRACTICE

Giant cell arteritis is a systemic granulomatous vasculitis. Medium and large arteries are involved. Vasculitis occurs in people over 50 years old. Different studies documented more than 3 times higher frequency in women. Vasculitis leads to severe ischemic complications, formation of aneurysms, vascular dissection, and blindness. Clinical manifestations of arteritis are diverse, differential diagnostics is wide. Using recommendations based on clinical data, a patient-centered approach that considers individual treatment goals and working with a multidisciplinary team can improve the accuracy of diagnosis and optimize treatment strategy. The authors intent to draw attention to the importance of making wide diagnostic search in an elderly patient with co-morbidities, using the possibilities of both subjective and objective methods of examination, non-invasive instrumental tests for diagnosis and timely prescribed treatment. This case is discussed from a clinical guidelines perspective.