Giant Cell Arteritis

The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology issued updated guidance recommending weekly tocilizumab, along with glucocorticoids that should eventually be tapered, for patients with new, relapsing giant cell arteritis.

Weekly tocilizumab 162 mg is recommended for giant cell arteritis in new or relapsing cases, alongside glucocorticoids that should eventually be tapered, according to an updated EULAR consensus statement on interleukin-6 inhibitors.

Patients with giant cell arteritis may require unexpected and sudden care, with as many as one-third requiring readmission to a health care center within 6 months of an episode, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Recent data found that dermatomyositis was more prevalent than had been thought. The retrospective, population-based cohort study that led to this conclusion was the top story in rheumatology last week.

Weekly tocilizumab delays initial flare and reduces glucocorticoid exposure in patients with relapsing and new-onset giant cell arteritis, according to data published in Rheumatology.

Vascular ultrasound, using high-end equipment and optimized settings, may be an effective replacement for temporal artery biopsy as a first-line diagnostic tool in patients with suspected giant cell arteritis, according to a Danish study.

The American College of Rheumatology and EULAR have updated classification criteria for five types of large- and small-vessel vasculitis, driven in part by advances in diagnostic imaging, according to presenters at ACR Convergence 2021.

A 78-year-old woman was referred to the neuro-ophthalmology service at New England Eye Center for several months of progressive diplopia, bilateral eye redness and proptosis.

Older, white and female populations are at the highest risk for developing giant cell arteritis, according to research presented at the Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium.

Cancer screening recommendations for patients with autoimmune diseases largely rely on clinical experience and extrapolation in the absence of abundant data, according to a speaker at the 2021 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology-East meeting.