[Acute pulmonary embolism related to pulmonary giant cell arteritis]

During giant cell arteritis (Horton's disease), Takayasu's disease and atrophic polychondritis, giant cell vascularities eventually involving the large vessels such as the aorta, or iliac or pulmonary arteries have been described. We report a case of giant cell pulmonary arteritis revealed by acute pulmonary embolism and associated with giant cell arteritis.

An 80 year-old woman was hospitalised for pulmonary embolism with acute pulmonary heart. Her condition rapidly deteriorated with cardiovascular failure. The post-mortem anatomopathological examination revealed an aspect of giant cell panarteritis of the pulmonary arteries predominating in the thrombus and initially evoking giant cell arteritis.

Until recently, only 3 cases of giant cell arteritis through obstruction of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary embolism have been reported, but the frequency of such an association may well be greater, notably with the increasing use of metabolic imaging techniques.