Biomaterial Database

Unexplained chest pain in a patient with giant cell arteritis? Think aortic dissection. 2022

Joshua Abishek, and Richard Akintayo, and Chris Isles

University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the commonest of the large-vessel vasculitides. Aortic inflammation in patients with GCA was first described over 80 years ago, but it has only been possible to study this systematically following the development of more sophisticated imaging techniques such as computed tomography angiography, magnetic resonance angiography and positron emission tomography. Both NICE and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recognise that aortic dissection may complicate GCA but stop short of recommending routine imaging. We report a case that highlights a possible need for large-vessel imaging at the time of diagnosis and during follow-up to enable earlier recognition of aortitis and associated complications including dissection.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D002637	Chest Pain	Pressure, burning, or numbness in the chest.	Precordial Catch,Precordial Catch Syndrome,Texidor's Twinge,Chest Pains,Pain, Chest,Pains, Chest,Syndrome, Precordial Catch,Texidor Twinge
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000784	Aortic Dissection	A tear in the inner layer of the AORTA leading to interstitial HEMORRHAGE, and splitting (dissecting) of the aortic TUNICA MEDIA layer. It typically begins with a tear in the TUNICA INTIMA layer.	Aneurysm, Dissecting,Aortic Dissecting Aneurysm,Dissecting Aneurysm,Dissecting Aneurysm Aorta,Aneurysm Aorta, Dissecting,Aneurysm, Aortic Dissecting,Aorta, Dissecting Aneurysm,Aortic Dissecting Aneurysms,Aortic Dissections,Dissecting Aneurysm Aortas,Dissecting Aneurysm, Aortic,Dissecting Aneurysms,Dissection, Aortic
D001025	Aortitis	Inflammation of the wall of the AORTA.	Aortitides
D013700	Giant Cell Arteritis	A systemic autoimmune disorder that typically affects medium and large ARTERIES, usually leading to occlusive granulomatous vasculitis with transmural infiltrate containing multinucleated GIANT CELLS. The TEMPORAL ARTERY is commonly involved. This disorder appears primarily in people over the age of 50. Symptoms include FEVER; FATIGUE; HEADACHE; visual impairment; pain in the jaw and tongue; and aggravation of pain by cold temperatures. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed)	Aortic Arteritis, Giant Cell,Aortitis, Giant Cell,Arteritis, Temporal,Cranial Arteritis,Horton Disease,Horton Giant Cell Arteritis,Juvenile Temporal Arteritis,Temporal Arteritis,Arteritis, Giant Cell, Horton,Arteritis, Giant Cell, Horton's,Giant Cell Aortic Arteritis,Giant Cell Aortitis,Giant Cell Aortitis, Horton's,Giant Cell Arteritis, Horton,Horton's Disease,Horton's Giant Cell Arteritis,Aortitides, Giant Cell,Arteritides, Cranial,Arteritides, Giant Cell,Arteritides, Juvenile Temporal,Arteritides, Temporal,Arteritis, Cranial,Arteritis, Giant Cell,Arteritis, Juvenile Temporal,Cranial Arteritides,Giant Cell Aortitides,Giant Cell Arteritides,Hortons Disease,Juvenile Temporal Arteritides,Temporal Arteritides,Temporal Arteritides, Juvenile,Temporal Arteritis, Juvenile
D049268	Positron-Emission Tomography	An imaging technique using compounds labelled with short-lived positron-emitting radionuclides (such as carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15 and fluorine-18) to measure cell metabolism. It has been useful in study of soft tissues such as CANCER; CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM; and brain. SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY is closely related to positron emission tomography, but uses isotopes with longer half-lives and resolution is lower.	PET Imaging,PET Scan,Positron-Emission Tomography Imaging,Tomography, Positron-Emission,Imaging, PET,Imaging, Positron-Emission Tomography,PET Imagings,PET Scans,Positron Emission Tomography,Positron Emission Tomography Imaging,Positron-Emission Tomography Imagings,Scan, PET,Tomography Imaging, Positron-Emission,Tomography, Positron Emission