Temporal arteritis also known as giant cell arteritis is a condition in which the medium and large blood vessels of the head region become inflamed resulting in damage of the blood vessels.

It derives its name because of the frequent involvement of the temporal arteries. However, other giant arteries such as aorta may also be involved in few cases. This is a very rare autoimmune disease affecting only one out of ten thousand people.

Giant Cell Arteritis

Who are at the Risk of Temporal Arteritis?

Senior citizens who are above fifty years of age are at high risk for the disease. Among the old aged people females are at higher risk than males. However, the exact reason for incidence of disease in old aged people is still not known.

Temporal Arteritis Causes

Exact cause of giant cell arteritis is unknown. But, it is mainly seen in people with

• Faulty immune system.
• Severe infections.
• Those who use antibiotics liberally.

Apart from these causes, few patients may develop this condition due to genetic disorders.

Temporal Arteritis Symptoms

Giant cell arteritis results in a wide array of symptoms due to involvement major blood vessels of the body.

Characteristic symptoms of the disease include

• Constant headache

  Due to swelling of the blood vessels of the head region, patients generally complain of unbearable headache on one side of the head or at the back of the head region.

• Hurting jaws

  There can be jaw pain while chewing. However, it is temporary in nature. Few patients may also suffer with pain in the tongue while talking and chewing.

• Constant fever

  This is one of the recognizable symptoms observed among all the patients of temporal arteritis.

• Painful shoulders

  Few patients suffer with pain in the shoulders as well as the hip region. The pain may be so severe that the patient finds it very hard even to sit.

• Faulty vision

  Due to swelling and obstruction of the blood vessels in the temple region of the eye, there can be vision problems. Few people suffer with moderate blindness while others may suffer with total loss of vision in one or both eyes. In few others there may not be loss in vision but show diplopia i.e. double vision.

• Sensitive scalp

  In addition to headache there can be sensitivity in the scalp region.

• Death of living tissue

  necrosis i.e. death of living tissues can be observed in specific regions of the body. Tissue damage occurs due to partial or complete lack of blood supply.

• Extreme weakness

  patients can suffer with severe weakness and pain in various nerves of the body.

Other symptoms observed in temporal arteritis patients include joint pains, loss in hearing ability and even stroke in few patients.

Temporal Arteritis Diagnosis

People exhibiting above symptoms can be suspected to have temporal arteritis. However, the disease cannot be confirmed with external examination.

• CT scan
• MRI scan
• Blood tests such as finding the hematocrit value are used to know the presence of inflamed arteries.

However, the confirmation of the disease is done only after a biopsy of the small tissue of the temporal arteries. The tissue sample is taken by giving local anesthesia.

Temporal Arteritis Treatment

Treatment mainly aims at reducing the damage of the blood vessels by use of corticosteroids and aspirin. To reduce the risk of severe symptoms treatment should be started immediately after the patient is suspected to have the disease. Due to use of high doses of corticosteroids the bones may become weak increasing the risk of fractures. Hence, calcium and vitamin D supplements should also be taken along with corticosteroids.

Though it is a life threatening disease it can be treated completely by appropriate treatment for about one to two years. In very rare cases recurrence of the disease is observed after long treatment.