Clinical characteristics of giant cell arteritis with ocular involvement: A single-centre retrospective study

To clarify the clinical characteristics of patients with ocular involvement in giant cell arteritis (GCA).

This was an observational, single-centre, retrospective study of patients with GCA treated at Juntendo University Hospital between January 2012 and July 2023. The study involved 71 patients, including 21 with ocular involvement: 10 had fundus findings such as anterior ischemic optic neuropathy or central retinal artery occlusion (6 with permanent vision loss) and 11 without fundus findings. The demographic and clinical features of GCA were compared between patients with and without ocular involvement.

The temporal artery was found to be affected more frequently in cases with ocular involvement than in those without on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (P = .013) and vascular ultrasound (P = .02). The average number of signs and symptoms observed before diagnosis was higher in patients with ocular involvement than in those without (P < .001). The period from the appearance of ocular involvement to therapy initiation was shorter in patients with fundus findings than in those without (8.2 vs. 73.8 days; P = .032).

Early imaging and early consultation with an ophthalmologist are important, as ocular involvement with fundus findings tended to occur earlier in GCA patients than without fundus findings.