Coronary giant cell arteritis and acute myocardial infarction.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic immune-mediated granulomatous vasculitis of large- and medium-sized arteries mainly affecting elderly people. Death from GCA alone is rare and usually results of ruptured aorta. In this paper is reported a case of a 83-year-old woman who unexpectedly died during treatment of GCA. Necropsy revealed inflammatory involvement of the coronary arteries with left descendent anterior artery thrombosis, myocardial infarct and rupture of the anterior wall of the left ventricle, as well as hemopericardium and cardiac tamponade. Myocardial infarction leading to sudden death is an exceptional complication of GCA.