Giant Cell (Temporal) Arteritis With Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: A Biopsy-proven Case in Taiwan

Received 27 April 2008; received in revised form 15 July 2008; accepted 18 July 2008.

Giant cell arteritis with arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy has rarely been diagnosed in Taiwan. Recently, we encountered a 76-year-old Taiwanese patient who presented with right visual impairment and marked pale swelling of his right disc. He also suffered body weight loss, general malaise and many typical manifestations of giant cell arteritis, such as jaw claudication, a tender, non-pulsating engorgement of his temporal arteries, and a highly elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein level. Biopsy of his right superficial temporal artery revealed a granulomatous inflammation with multinucleated giant cell infiltration. This was a biopsy-proven case of giant cell arteritis with arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and indicated that although rare, this disease could occur in patients in Taiwan.

Key Words: anterior ischemic optic neuropathy , biopsy , Chinese , giant cell arteritis , temporal arteritis , Taiwan

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Article Outline

• Abstract

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References

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a Department of Ophthalmology, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

b School of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan

c School of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

d Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Correspondence to: Dr Cheng-Kuo Cheng, Department of Ophthalmology, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, 95 Wen-Chang Road, Shih-Lin District, Taipei 11120, Taiwan

PII: S0929-6646(10)60090-3

doi:10.1016/S0929-6646(10)60090-3

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