A giant cause of stroke
K K Y Kong1, A D Mackinnon2, L R Bridges3
1Acute and Stroke Medicine Specialty Registrar, Atkinson Morley Regional Neuroscience Centre, St Georges Hospital, Blackshaw Road, Tooting, London.
Abstract:
An 80 year old man presented subacutely with drowsiness and confusion. Subsequent MRI brain imaging demonstrated multiple posterior circulation infarcts. Extracranial vasculitis was suspected when his ESR was found to be high and vascular imaging showed multifocal irregular narrowing of both vertebral arteries. This was confirmed by targeted temporal artery biopsy, which showed chronic granulomatous inflammation typical of giant cell arteritis (GCA). The patient made a significant recovery following treatment with prednisolone.
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