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Br J Ophthalmol 2007;91:715-718 doi:10.1136/bjo.2006.108845
  • Clinical science
    • Scientific reports

Epidemiology of giant-cell arteritis in an Arab population: a 22-year study

  1. Imtiaz A Chaudhry1,
  2. Farrukh A Shamsi2,
  3. Elsanusi Elzaridi3,
  4. Yonca O Arat4,
  5. Thomas M Bosley5,
  6. Fenwick C Riley6
  1. 1Oculoplastic and Orbit Division, King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  2. 2Research Department, King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  3. 3Royal Eye Infirmary, Royal Victoria Infirmary Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
  4. 4Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
  5. 5Neuro-ophthalmology Division, King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  6. 6Department of Pathology, King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  1. Correspondence to: Dr I A Chaudhry Oculoplastic & Orbit Division, King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, PO Box 7191, Riyadh 11462, Saudi Arabia; orbitdr{at}hotmail.com
  • Accepted 4 January 2007
  • Published Online First 17 January 2007

Abstract

Objective: To study the epidemiology of biopsy-proven giant-cell arteritis (GCA) in an Arab population with clinical features suggestive of GCA.

Methods: Clinical records of 102 patients who underwent temporal artery biopsy (TAB) at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January 1983 to December 2004 were reviewed.

Results: Among the 56 men and 46 women who had TAB, 7 (6.8%) had biopsy-proven GCA. The mean (SD) age of the biopsy-positive group (71.7 (8.6) years) was higher than in the biopsy-negative group (65 (9.8) years; p = 0.005). None of the untreated patients with a negative TAB developed additional symptoms that are typical of GCA.

Conclusion: The small absolute number of biopsy-proven cases of GCA implies a relatively low incidence of GCA in Arab population, confirming previous observations that GCA occurs primarily in the Caucasian population.

Footnotes

  • Published Online First 17 January 2007

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