Oral and ocular/orbital manifestations of temporal arteritis: a disease with deceptive clinical symptoms and devastating consequences

Giant Cell Arteritis: A Case-Based Narrative Review of the Literature

Purpose of Review

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic, inflammatory condition, primarily affecting the medium and larger arteries. The purpose of this narrative review is to describe GCA in the context of headache and facial pain, based on a case and the available current literature. Understanding the etiology, pathophysiology, the associated conditions, and the differential diagnoses is important in managing GCA.

Recent Findings

In a patient presenting with unilateral facial/head pain with disturbances of vision, GCA should be considered in the differential diagnosis. There is an association of GCA with several comorbid conditions, and infections including coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) infection. Management of GCA primarily depends upon the identification of the affected artery and prompt treatment. Permanent visual loss and other serious complications are associated with GCA.

Summary

GCA is characterized by robust inflammation of large- and medium-sized arteries and marked elevation of systemic mediators of inflammation. An interdisciplinary approach of management involving the pertinent specialties is strongly recommended.

Giant cell arteritis complicated by tongue necrosis and bilateral cerebellar ischaemic stroke

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) typically presents with headache, scalp tenderness or visual disturbance. Other symptoms include orofacial pain, constitutional symptoms and ischaemic stroke. An 81-year-old woman with a background of type-2 diabetes and hypertension presented with headache, oral pain and right visual loss. Examination showed hypertension, nodular temporal arteries, reduced visual acuity and suspected oral candida. Inflammatory markers were raised and she was diagnosed with GCA and commenced on corticosteroids. During treatment she developed tongue ulceration, then acute vertigo and incoordination with nystagmus and ataxia. Neuroimaging confirmed bilateral, cerebellar ischaemic strokes and temporal artery biopsy was consistent with GCA. With corticosteroids and secondary prevention of stroke measures she is now functionally independent. Oral pain is an uncommon symptom of GCA and delays in recognition may lead to catastrophic consequences. Clinicians should be aware of uncommon presentations and to optimise additional ischaemic stroke risk-factors.

Giant Cell Arteritis: The Experience of Two Collaborative Referral Centers and an Overview of Disease Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Advancements

Purpose

Giant cell arteritis (GCA), a chronic vasculitis of the large and medium-sized arteries, affects people >50 years of age. This study assessed the prevalence of visual manifestations and other clinical features at presentation in an Italian cohort of GCA patients. Recent advances in the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapy of GCA are also reviewed.

Methods

This retrospective, single-center study conducted by the ophthalmology and internal medicine clinics of one university recruited 56 patients from 2005 to 2016 and followed them for 11-54 months.

Results

Ocular involvement was diagnosed in 19 patients (33.9%), with permanent vision loss in 19.6% (7.1% of the cohort with bilateral vision loss). Arteritic anterior and posterior ischemic optic neuropathy were diagnosed in 11 patients (57.9%) and 1 patient (5.3%), respectively, cotton wool spots in 3 patients (15.8%), central retinal artery occlusion in 2 patients (10.5%), and anterior segment ischemia and multifocal choroidal ischemia in 1 patient each (5.3%). Polymyalgia rheumatica was associated with GCA in 44.6% of the patients. The most common extra-ocular manifestation was constitutional symptoms (82.1% of the patients). Large-vessel involvement, including of the ascending aorta, aortic arch, and left axillary artery, was diagnosed by magnetic resonance or computed tomography (CT) angiography and ¹⁸FDG positron emission/CT. Glucocorticoids (GCs) remain the standard-of-care worldwide, but methotrexate, provided as a steroid-sparing drug in 41% of the patients, resulted in earlier tapering, a lower cumulative dose of GCs, and a lower rate of relapse. Among the combinations of GCs and immunosuppressive drugs proposed to treat GCA, only tocilizumab has effectively induced and maintained disease remission.

Conclusion

According to our data and literature reports: a) GCA is a systemic disease; b) its diagnosis is expedited by the adjunct use of imaging techniques; c) insights into the pathogenesis of GCA may allow an improved, differentiated therapeutic approach.

Main Oral Manifestations in Immune-Mediated and Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases

Oral manifestations are frequent in patients with rheumatic diseases. The aim of this review is to offer readers practical advice concerning the onset, diagnosis and treatment of the main oral manifestations encountered in rheumatological and dental clinics. Signs and symptoms such as oral hyposalivation, xerostomia, temporomandibular joint disorders, periodontal disease, and dysphagia may be the first expression of a number of rheumatic diseases. Some of these manifestations are aspecific and very frequent, such as oral aphthosis, which can be the first manifestation in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus; some are potentially dangerous, such as jaw claudication during the course of giant cell arteritis; and some are very rare but peculiar, such as strawberry-like gingivitis in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis. Other oral manifestations are due to adverse reactions to disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Oral alterations in rheumatic diseases are frequently overlooked in clinical practice, but their prompt recognition not only allows the local lesions to be appropriately treated, but also makes it possible to identify an underlying systemic disease.

Rhinocerebral Mucormycosis With Temporal Artery Thrombosis in an Adolescent Following HLA-haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation

Rhinocerebral mucormycosis (RCM) can lead to internal carotid artery thrombosis. Here, we report the first case of RCM with temporal artery thrombosis following HLA-haploidentical stem cell transplantation in an adolescent presenting with low-grade fever, right mandibular pain, and right jaw claudication. This case suggests that RCM can cause temporal artery thrombosis and should be considered as a differential diagnosis in severely immunocompromised patients with maxillary sinusitis presenting with jaw claudication.

Case report: giant cell arteritis in a patient with carotid atherosclerosis - a diagnostic dilemma

Carotid atherosclerosis and giant cell arteritis (GCA) are two distinct medical conditions with an overlapping clinical spectrum of vascular symptoms such as vision loss and ischemic stroke. This is because both diseases cause arterial ischemia with a predilection for carotid vasculature. In addition, high-vascular risk individuals who are diagnosed with GCA are usually elderly with age >55 years with high-vascular risk and thus can have underlying atherosclerosis. All these factors can pose a diagnostic dilemma for the physicians as GCA is a medical emergency which if left untreated can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Thus, it is important to avoid attributing occlusive arterial disease in elderly patients to atherosclerosis alone because some may have GCA. We present a case report in which presence of diffuse atherosclerosis was a major pitfall while making a timely diagnosis of GCA.

Orofacial manifestations in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases

The main orofacial manifestation of the inflammatory rheumatic diseases is that of Sjögren's syndrome. In addition, there is a constellation of orofacial manifestations of the inflammatory rheumatic diseases, many of which are extra-articular with some constituting presenting signs of the underlying rheumatic disease. This review will discuss the orofacial manifestations in a variety of connective tissue diseases and will also allude to the oral adverse drug reactions that may occur as a consequence of therapy.

Neuro-Ophthalmology Cases for the Neurologist

Neurologists should be aware of specific urgent and emergent neuro-ophthalmic conditions, including giant cell arteritis, arterial dissection, intracranial aneurysm, pituitary apoplexy, and invasive sino-orbital fungal infection (eg, mucormycosis). Early recognition and treatment can greatly impact patient morbidity and mortality, including the preservation of vision and life. Neurologists should be cognizant of the key and differentiating clinical and radiographic features for these presentations.

Giant cell arteritis affecting the tongue: a case report and review of the literature

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic vasculitis with symptoms that could cause a patient to present to a general dental practitioner. A case of GCA that presented as headache, jaw claudication, unilateral visual loss and tongue ulceration leading to necrosis is reported and the literature reviewed, with an emphasis on dentally relevant aspects. It is vital that GCA is not overlooked in patients over the age of 50 with unexplained dental pain, tissue necrosis or jaw pain which may be misdiagnosed as a temporomandibular joint disorder. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment is the key to preventing visual loss. Early referral in such cases would be warranted.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Dental clinicians may play a part in the early diagnosis of GCA by having a high index of suspicion for its symptoms in patients, so that devastating ischaemic consequences, such as irreversible visual loss, can be prevented.

Clinical features of polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) are inflammatory diseases that typically affect white individuals >50 years. Women are affected ∼2-3 times more often than men. PMR and GCA occur together more frequently than expected by chance. The main symptoms of PMR are pain and stiffness in the shoulders, and often in the neck and pelvic girdle. Imaging studies reveal inflammation of joints and bursae of the affected areas. GCA is a large-vessel and medium-vessel arteritis predominantly involving the branches of the aortic arch. The typical clinical manifestations of GCA are new headache, jaw claudication and visual loss. PMR and GCA usually remit within 6 months to 2 years from disease onset. Some patients, however, have a relapsing course and might require long-standing treatment. Diagnosis of PMR and GCA is based on clinical features and elevated levels of inflammatory markers. Temporal artery biopsy remains the gold standard to support the diagnosis of GCA; imaging studies are useful to delineate large-vessel involvement in GCA. Glucocorticoids remain the cornerstone of treatment of both PMR and GCA, but patients with GCA require higher doses. Synthetic immunosuppressive drugs also have a role in disease management, whereas the role of biologic agents is currently unclear.

[Ocular manifestations of primary systemic vasculitis]

A variety of ophthalmic manifestations can occur in patients who have systemic vasculitides and may be the presenting feature. Ocular involvement is frequently found and can result in significant morbidity, even in blindness. Early diagnosis and treatment may improve visual outcome. The management is challenging and requires a multidisciplinary approach. Treatment of ocular manifestations and systemic disease usually follows the same path. The mainstay of treatment is the use of systemic corticosteroids, usually combined with steroid-sparing immunosuppressive drugs. New, promising, emerging therapies rely on the development of biologic agents, which seem useful in the ocular manifestations of systemic vasculitides.

Giant cell arteritis: an updated review

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common primary vasculitis of adults. The incidence of this disease is practically nil in the population under the age of 50 years, then rises dramatically with each passing decade. The median age of onset of the disease is about 75 years. As the ageing population expands, it is increasingly important for ophthalmologists to be familiar with GCA and its various manifestations, ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic. A heightened awareness of this condition can avoid delays in diagnosis and treatment. It is well known that prompt initiation of steroids remains the most effective means for preventing potentially devastating ischaemic complications. This review summarizes the current concepts regarding the immunopathogenetic pathways that lead to arteritis and the major phenotypic subtypes of GCA with emphasis on large vessel vasculitis, novel modalities for disease detection and investigative trials using alternative, non-steroid therapies.