The goals of this study were to characterise and evaluate the vascular outcomes of patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) who only had symptomatic isolated limb involvement (LI-GCA). Researchers enrolled patients from five tertiary care centres who were diagnosed with GCA based on histology of vasculitis on imaging and who had isolated symptomatic limb involvement at the time of diagnosis. They chose three control patients at random for each included patient who met the five criteria established by the American College of Rheumatology at the time of diagnosis. There were 27 LI-GCA patients and 81 control individuals in the study. Glucocorticoid usage and recurrence rates did not differ between the two groups, however patients with LI-GCA were treated for a longer period of time. Cardiovascular problems occurred in 67 percent of LI-GCA patients vs 21 percent of control patients, with ischemic events such as stroke and myocardial infarction being the most common. Vascular surgery was necessary in 44 percent of LI-GCA patients versus 2 percent of controls. Excluding vascular surgery, individuals with LI-GCA had a greater cumulative incidence of cardiovascular problems than controls.
LI-GCA has a poorer cardiovascular prognosis than the normal cranial type of GCA. More research is needed to discover the best way to handle these patients.
