These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An individual patient is always advised to consult their own physician.
Temporal Arteritis
Question: My father has Temporal Arteritis,
along with other complications, and he is in the hospital. Can you tell me what the particular treatment is for this condition and also the prognosis. He has just had lung surgery.
Answer: Temporal Arteritis is a inflammatory disease of small and medium arteries. Although the
diagnosis is made by biopsy of the Temporal Artery it is thought to affect most arteries in the
body. The cause is not known, but is peculiar in that it affects older patients predominantly.
This disease is not seen before the age of 55 or so. Diagnosis is made by biopsy of the
temporal artery. Sometimes two or more biopsies are necessary to find an area of
inflammation due to the “skip” nature of the inflammatory lesions. Treatment is limited to
use of steroids. This is to avoid the possible blindness which can result if not treated. Side
effects are generally limited to the side effects of the steroids, but inadequate treatment with
insufficient steroids can lead to blindness. Temporal arteritis can reoccur and will usually
require treatment in excess of 3 months. Treatment is begun to decrease the sedimentation
rate (a blood test) and the amount of steroid necessary is kept to a minimum due to the
potential side effects of steroids.
