[Giant-cell arteritis limited to the femoral arteries]

A previously healthy 48-year-old woman developed, over several months, increasing pain in her hips, cervical and lumbar spine as well as the shoulders. In addition she developed intermittent claudication after walking 100-200 m. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was 35-43 mm in the first hour; the IgM concentration was raised to 610 mg/dl. Angiography demonstrated symmetrical occlusion of both superficial femoral arteries. An attempt at thrombolysis having failed, a biopsy of the femoral artery wall was obtained. This revealed a florid arteritis, in part as giant-cell arteritis with destruction of the elastic structures, while the adjacent muscle was unchanged. Subsequent biopsy of the temporal artery was normal. Treatment consisted at first of 60 mg prednisolone and 100 mg aspirin, both daily for 4 weeks. The ESR fell and the free-of-pain walking distance rose. There has been no recurrence of pain after stepwise reduction over one year of the steroid dosage until its discontinuation.