Temporal arteritis

What is temporal arteritis?

This is also known as giant cell arteritis and is a relatively uncommon condition where the blood vessels around the head and the scalp become inflamed.

This inflammation particularly affects the temporal arteries on either side of the forehead. When inflamed, these become very prominent and can often be easily seen.

Most people who get temporal arteritis are over 55 and Caucasian. Women tend to be affected more often than men.

Symptoms

• Severe headache on one or both sides of the forehead
• Pain in the sides of the face that becomes worse when chewing
• Scalp tenderness that may be felt even when someone combs their hair

As many as 50 per cent of those with the condition have some more widespread symptoms such as unexplained fever, poor appetite and weight loss.

Causes and risk factors

It’s not precisely clear why temporal arteritis occurs, but it's thought to be because of an autoimmune reaction where the body for some unknown reason attacks its own blood vessels. These inflamed blood vessels become narrowed, resulting in a reduced blood flow.

The inflammation can sometimes affect the blood vessels to the eye, too. This can result in varying degrees of loss of vision that, if not treated quickly, may become permanent.

The diagnosis is usually made by taking a small biopsy of one of the arteries, although ultrasound and MRI scans are increasingly used.

Treatment and recovery

Temporal arteritis is initially treated with high-dose steroids and most people find their symptoms improve within 24 hours of starting treatment.

In general, doctors gradually reduce the dose of steroids to a maintenance dose that's continued for a few years.

Some doctors recommend other treatments, too, such as drugs that thin the blood or prevent blood clots from forming, in order to reduce the risks of other conditions occurring due to narrowed blood vessels, such as a stroke.