Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2009 , Vol 55 , Num 1

Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Hasan Ulusoy 1 ,Nebahat Sarıca 1 ,Şule Arslan 2
1 Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Tokat
2 Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, TokatGaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Tokat

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic medium to large arterial vasculitis that predominantly affects the elderly population. When an elderly patient with rheumatismal complaints has new onset headache, GCA should be considered. High dose corticosteroids are the cornerstone of treatment. However, long-term treatment with corticosteroids frequently leads to serious side effects. There is no conclusive evidence about the role of immunosuppressive agents such as methotrexate. On the other hand, knowledge which is related to treatment resistant GCA patients succesfully treated with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors have been increasing. In this article, we presented a patient who developed GCA succeeding polymyalgia rheumatica and a review of the literature related to GCA.

Keywords : Vasculitis, Giant cell arteritis, temporal arteritis, polymyalgia rheumatica