Polymyalgia Rheumatica, Giant Cell Arteritis, and Vascular Complications

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) may be associated with vascular complications for a number of reasons: 1/the inflammatory nature of the disease itself, 2/strong association with giant cell arteritis (GCA – which has a direct inflammatory effect on arteries and may result in either stenosis or aneurysm within affected segments), 3/side effect of the corticosteroid treatment (including arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia and/or diabetes mellitus). GCA is a systemic granulomatous vasculitis, typically affecting branches of carotid artery mainly temporal artery; however, any other medium or large artery can be affected. This fact complicates diagnosis of the disease. Diagnostic possibilities of GCA are discussed in this chapter.