Temporal arteritis

Alternative Names

Arteritis - temporal; Cranial arteritis; Giant cell arteritis

Symptoms

• Excessive sweating
• Fever
• General ill feeling
• Jaw pain, intermittent or when chewing
• Loss of appetite
• Muscle aches
• Throbbing headache on one side of the head or the back of the head
• Scalp sensitivity, tenderness when touching the scalp
• Vision difficulties
  • Blurred vision
  • Double vision
  • Reduced vision (blindness in one or both eyes)
• Weakness, excessive tiredness
• Weight loss (more than 5% of total body weight)

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• Bleeding gums
• Face pain
• Hearing loss
• Joint stiffness
• Joint pain
• Mouth sores

About 40% of people will have other nonspecific symptoms such as respiratory complaints (most frequently dry cough) or weakness or pain along many nerve areas. Rarely, paralysis of eye muscles may occur. A persistent fever may be the only symptom.

Exams and Tests

The doctor will examine your head. Touching the head may show that the scalp is senstive and has a tender, thick artery on one side. The affected artery may have a weak pulse or no pulse.

Blood tests may include:

• Sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein -- almost always very high
• Hemoglobin or hematocrit -- may be normal or low
• Liver function tests -- may be abnormal with high levels of alkaline phosphatase

Blood tests cannot specifically diagnose this condition. A biopsy and examination of tissue from the affected artery show changes that confirm the diagnosis of temporal vasculitis in most cases.