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Visual complications in patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis : A population-based study

Saleh, Muna ; Turesson, Carl LU ; Englund, Martin LU orcid ; Merkel, Peter A. and Mohammad, Aladdin J. LU (2016) In Journal of Rheumatology 43(8). p.1559-1565
Abstract

Objective. To study the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis (GCA) with visual complications, and to evaluate the incidence rate of visual complications in GCA compared to the background population. Methods. Data from 840 patients with GCA in the county of Skane, Sweden, diagnosed between 1997 and 2010, were used for this analysis. Cases with visual complications were identified from a diagnosis registry and confirmed by a review of medical records. The rate of visual complications in patients with GCA was compared with an age-and sex-matched reference population. Results. There were 85 patients (10%) who developed ≥ 1 visual complication after the onset of GCA. Of the patients, 18... (More)

Objective. To study the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis (GCA) with visual complications, and to evaluate the incidence rate of visual complications in GCA compared to the background population. Methods. Data from 840 patients with GCA in the county of Skane, Sweden, diagnosed between 1997 and 2010, were used for this analysis. Cases with visual complications were identified from a diagnosis registry and confirmed by a review of medical records. The rate of visual complications in patients with GCA was compared with an age-and sex-matched reference population. Results. There were 85 patients (10%) who developed ≥ 1 visual complication after the onset of GCA. Of the patients, 18 (21%) developed unilateral or bilateral complete visual loss. The mean age at diagnosis was 78 years (± 7.3); 69% were women. Compared with patients without visual complications, those with visual complication had lower C-reactive protein levels at diagnosis and were less likely to have headache, fever, and palpable abnormal temporal artery. The use of-adrenergic inhibitors was associated with visual complications. The incidence of visual complications among patients with GCA was 20.9/1000 person-years of followup compared to 6.9/1000 person-years in the reference population, resulting in a rate ratio of 3.0 (95% CI 2.3.3.8). Conclusion. Ten percent of patients with GCA developed visual complications, a rate substantially higher than that of the general population. Patients with GCA who had visual complications had lower inflammatory responses and were more likely to have been treated with 1β-adrenergic inhibitors compared with patients without visual complications.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Giant cell arteritis, Inflammation clinical characteristics, Rate ratio, Visual complications, β-blockers
in
Journal of Rheumatology
volume
43
issue
8
pages
7 pages
publisher
Journal of Rheumatology Publishing Company Limited
external identifiers
  • scopus:84982863807
  • pmid:27252424
  • wos:000380882300018
ISSN
0315-162X
DOI
10.3899/jrheum.151033
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
29170964-72d0-47be-add7-bc3fec0734cf
date added to LUP
2016-09-20 15:01:13
date last changed
2024-05-04 09:22:35
@article{29170964-72d0-47be-add7-bc3fec0734cf,
  abstract     = {{<p>Objective. To study the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis (GCA) with visual complications, and to evaluate the incidence rate of visual complications in GCA compared to the background population. Methods. Data from 840 patients with GCA in the county of Skane, Sweden, diagnosed between 1997 and 2010, were used for this analysis. Cases with visual complications were identified from a diagnosis registry and confirmed by a review of medical records. The rate of visual complications in patients with GCA was compared with an age-and sex-matched reference population. Results. There were 85 patients (10%) who developed ≥ 1 visual complication after the onset of GCA. Of the patients, 18 (21%) developed unilateral or bilateral complete visual loss. The mean age at diagnosis was 78 years (± 7.3); 69% were women. Compared with patients without visual complications, those with visual complication had lower C-reactive protein levels at diagnosis and were less likely to have headache, fever, and palpable abnormal temporal artery. The use of-adrenergic inhibitors was associated with visual complications. The incidence of visual complications among patients with GCA was 20.9/1000 person-years of followup compared to 6.9/1000 person-years in the reference population, resulting in a rate ratio of 3.0 (95% CI 2.3.3.8). Conclusion. Ten percent of patients with GCA developed visual complications, a rate substantially higher than that of the general population. Patients with GCA who had visual complications had lower inflammatory responses and were more likely to have been treated with 1β-adrenergic inhibitors compared with patients without visual complications.</p>}},
  author       = {{Saleh, Muna and Turesson, Carl and Englund, Martin and Merkel, Peter A. and Mohammad, Aladdin J.}},
  issn         = {{0315-162X}},
  keywords     = {{Giant cell arteritis; Inflammation clinical characteristics; Rate ratio; Visual complications; β-blockers}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{1559--1565}},
  publisher    = {{Journal of Rheumatology Publishing Company Limited}},
  series       = {{Journal of Rheumatology}},
  title        = {{Visual complications in patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis : A population-based study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.151033}},
  doi          = {{10.3899/jrheum.151033}},
  volume       = {{43}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}