Kachroo A, Tello C, Bais R, Panush R S
Department of Medicine, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ, USA.
Bull Rheum Dis. 1996 Aug;45(5):2-5.
Giant cell arteritis should not be a diagnosis of exclusion, an afterthought, or a last thought. There is urgency to establishing this diagnosis and initiating therapy. All practitioners who treat adults will be confronted with these patients. Some will have classic presentations, some will have subtle presentations. When patients complain of fever, fatigue, malaise, weight loss, or painless vision loss, GCA should be suspected. An ESR will aid in the diagnosis (although a normal ESR does not rule it out), and sometimes temporal artery biopsy will provide certainty. Giant cell arteritis is usually easy to recognize, easy to treat, and satisfying to manage.
巨细胞动脉炎不应是排除性诊断、事后考虑或最后才想到的诊断。确立这一诊断并开始治疗具有紧迫性。所有治疗成人患者的医生都会遇到这类患者。有些患者会有典型表现，有些则表现不明显。当患者诉说发热、疲劳、不适、体重减轻或无痛性视力丧失时，应怀疑巨细胞动脉炎。血沉有助于诊断（尽管血沉正常不能排除该病），有时颞动脉活检可明确诊断。巨细胞动脉炎通常易于识别、易于治疗且易于管理。
