Lance J W
University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Aust Fam Physician. 1990 Dec;19(12):1828-9, 1832, 1834.
Temporal arteritis is an uncommon condition but must be recognised early if complications such as blindness are to be avoided. The onset of daily headache or systemic disturbance with muscle and joint pains in patients over the age of 50 years should arouse suspicion. The ESR is usually greater than 40 mm an hour, but it is advisable to proceed to temporal artery biopsy if the story is typical even though initially the ESR may be normal. Histological confirmation is desirable because steroid therapy may have to continue for several years.
颞动脉炎并不常见，但要避免诸如失明等并发症，就必须尽早识别。50岁以上患者出现每日头痛或伴有肌肉和关节疼痛的全身不适时，应引起怀疑。血沉通常每小时大于40毫米，但即使最初血沉可能正常，如果症状典型，仍建议进行颞动脉活检。因为可能需要持续数年使用类固醇治疗，所以组织学确诊是很有必要的。
