Abstract
Background
The diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) remains challenging due to the varied number and type of clinical features (symptoms and comorbidities) that patients with GCA can present with. Prompt diagnosis is important, as if left undiagnosed and untreated, some patients may experience irreversible sight loss. Given the rarity of GCA and that many of the presenting clinical features may pertain to other, more prevalent illnesses in the typical age range for GCA, diagnostic delay is common. Such delay may increase the risk of GCA related complications. The aim of this study was to quantify the association between a diagnosis of GCA and the clinical features observed prior to diagnosis.
Methods
Patients with a coded record of GCA and aged 40 years or older at the time of diagnosis, were identified from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) between 1990 and 2017. CPRD is a large, national UK database of primary care records. Every GCA case was matched to 5 controls with no GCA diagnosis, by year of birth, gender and practice. Clinical features linked to GCA in previous research studies were identified in the patient’s primary care records at any time prior to GCA diagnosis. Conditional logistic regression was used to determine associations between clinical features and a subsequent diagnosis of GCA, adjusting for Body Mass Index, smoking status, and alcohol consumption.
Results
9,205 patients with GCA were included, the majority of which were female (70.9%). 15 clinical features were examined. For example, 53.3% of GCA cases had a recorded consultation for headache prior to diagnosis (38.4% within six months prior to diagnosis), compared to 9.9% of controls; 3.2% of cases had recorded jaw pain (0.3% within six months prior to diagnosis) compared to 0.5% of controls; 39.4% of cases had a diagnosis for hypertension prior to their diagnosis of GCA. GCA cases were more likely than controls to have recorded consultations for headache (adjusted OR 10.57; 95% CI: 9.93, 11.25), jaw pain (5.37; 4.47, 6.44) and hypertension (1.33; 1.26, 1.40). Other clinical features that were statistically significantly associated with GCA included fever, anxiety/depression, and PMR. Cancer was the only clinical feature not associated with GCA.
Conclusion
Symptoms such as headache, jaw pain and hypertension are highly prevalent in GCA, but are also common symptoms in the usual age group affected by GCA and common features of many conditions. In isolation and considering the rarity of GCA in the UK population, these symptoms may not be immediately attributed to GCA by the diagnosing GP. It is therefore necessary to conduct further research where clinical features are not treated independently, but as groups or clusters, which together may more accurately help clinicians to diagnose GCA early.
Disclosures
L.A. Barnett None. T. Helliwell None. K.P. Jordan None. J.A. Prior None.
Giant-cell arteritis of the ovarian arteries with associated temporal arteritis.
