[Giant cell arteritis, synonym of Horton disease?].

Giant cell arteritis: a synonym of Horton's disease? Biopsies from the temporal artery of 50 patients with Horton disease were evaluated retrospectively by light microscopy and immunohistochemical methods. All patients were adults over 60 years: 28 female, 22 male. Histopathologic study of the biopsies disclosed four main variants most likely related to different stages of temporal arteritis. Only in 22 cases the typical granulomatous giant-cell pattern was observed. However similar pathologic findings occur in several other chronic vasculitis, granulomatous giant cell inflammation being a mark of an advanced stage of the disease rather than a mark of a specific type of arteritis. Therefore <> and <> cannot be considered synonymous, contrary to what usually happens in clinical practice.