Doppler ultrasonography of superficial temporal artery in a cohort of patients with strong clinical suspicion of giant cell arteritis

Abstract

Background and objective: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most frequent systemic vasculitis in adults. In recent years, the usefulness of temporal artery ultrasound (TAUS) as a diagnostic tool to assess the underlying inflammation of the vascular wall during the inflammatory process has been under clinical investigation.

Material and methods: Observational and descriptive cohort study of 120 TAUS in 60 patients with clinical suspicions of GCA, according to the ACR (American College of Rheumatology) classification criteria.

Results: Among all patients who underwent ultrasound, 42.3% met clinical criteria for GCA according to ACR. Sensitivity and specificity of TAUS in our cohort with clinical suspicion was 81.8% and 93.3%, respectively. A PPV of 90.1% and a VPN of 87.5% were observed.

Conclusion: Our results showed that TAUS as a useful, indolent, fast, and accessible tool with high diagnostic specificity and diagnostic value.

Keywords: Arteria temporal; Arteritis de células gigantes; Ecografía; Giant cell arteritis; Temporal artery; Ultrasound.