Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 22, 2025

An Immunohistopathologic Study to Profile the Folate Receptor Beta Macrophage and Vascular Immune Microenvironment in Giant Cell Arteritis
06:35

An Immunohistopathologic Study to Profile the Folate Receptor Beta Macrophage and Vascular Immune Microenvironment in Giant Cell Arteritis

Published on: February 8, 2019

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Incidence of giant cell arteritis is associated with COVID-19 prevalence: A population-level retrospective study

Ben Mulhearn1,2, Jessica Ellis1,2, Sarah Skeoch1,2

  • 1Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Trust, Combe Park, Bath, BA1 3NG, UK.

Heliyon
|July 24, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) diagnoses significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 40-45 day lag suggests SARS-CoV-2 may trigger GCA, prompting further research into this viral aetiology.

Area of Science:

  • Rheumatology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Giant cell arteritis (GCA) diagnosis rates rose at a UK hospital following the initial COVID-19 wave.
  • This observation supports the hypothesis that viral infections may cause GCA.
  • Understanding GCA's causes can improve diagnosis and patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To estimate GCA incidence in Bath during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021).
  • To compare GCA incidence with pre-pandemic data (2015-2019).
  • To evaluate the temporal link between COVID-19 and GCA diagnoses.

Main Methods:

  • Calculated annual GCA incidence rates from 2015-2021.
  • Estimated local COVID-19 prevalence using hospital bed occupancy.
  • Employed Poisson statistics and Granger causality to analyze relationships.

Main Results:

  • GCA diagnoses increased significantly in 2020 (60 cases) versus 2019 (28 cases).
  • Peaks in COVID-19 hospitalizations correlated with GCA diagnosis peaks.
  • Granger causality revealed a significant 40-45 day lag between COVID-19 prevalence and GCA incidence.

Conclusions:

  • GCA incidence in Bath rose significantly in 2020-2021 compared to 2015-2019.
  • A 40-45 day lag suggests COVID-19 may precipitate GCA.
  • Further research is ongoing to confirm the causal link between SARS-CoV-2 and GCA.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID-19EpidemiologyGiant cell arteritisPathogenesisRheumatologyVasculitisimmunology

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