Clinical Experience With a Multidisciplinary Model of Vascular Ultrasound for the Evaluation for Giant Cell Arteritis

Vascular ultrasound (VUS) is a first-line test for giant cell arteritis (GCA) in Europe but has been of limited use in the United States. We report clinical experience with a multidisciplinary model of VUS for the evaluation of GCA at a large US medical center.

Patients who underwent VUS for evaluation of GCA between 2013 and 2017 were reviewed. Trained vascular technologists followed a standardized protocol to visualize bilateral temporal, carotid, subclavian, and axillary arteries. Vascular medicine physicians interpreted VUS as no arteritis, hyperechoic wall thickening, or acute arteritis. Characteristics of patients with versus without acute arteritis (no arteritis or hyperechoic wall thickening) were compared. Among patients with suspected new-onset GCA, the treating physician's pretest and posttest suspicion for GCA were compared.

Of 530 patients, 10.6% had prior-onset GCA, 31.7% had polymyalgia rheumatica, and 57.6% were taking glucocorticoids. Most patients had no arteritis on VUS (84.3%); 10.6% had acute arteritis, and 5.1% had hyperechoic wall thickening. Typical GCA symptoms, such as jaw claudication and scalp tenderness, were significantly more frequent in patients with acute arteritis. For all 42 patients with suspected new-onset GCA and acute arteritis, posttest suspicion was unchanged or increased. Of 415 patients with suspected new-onset GCA and VUS without acute arteritis, suspicion decreased (76.4%) or was unchanged (20.2%).

We describe a multidisciplinary model for incorporating VUS into GCA care. When pretest suspicion was low and VUS did not reveal acute arteritis, posttest suspicion typically decreased, whereas when pretest suspicion was high and VUS revealed acute arteritis, posttest suspicion was reinforced.