Book chapter
Management of Giant Cell Arteritis to Prevent Visual Loss
Ischemic Optic Neuropathies, pp.227-264
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
2011
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-11852-4_13
Abstract
As has been emphasized in earlier chapters, the most dreaded complication of giant cell arteritis (GCA) is permanent visual loss in one or both eyes – and fear of visual loss is exceeded only by fear of death. If GCA is diagnosed early and treated immediately, aggressively and adequately with systemic corticosteroids, blindness is entirely preventable; that makes GCA the prime ophthalmic emergency. A study [1] further emphasized that fact, when it found that a high proportion of patients with permanent visual loss had had a delayed diagnosis and treatment; in that study 35% had experienced systemic symptoms for an average of 10.8 months before visual loss and 65% had had premonitory visual symptoms for an average of 8.5 days. This obviously raises two critical issues about the management of GCA: (1) how to establish an early and a definite diagnosis of GCA? and (2) what is the proper treatment to prevent blindness? There is a voluminous literature on both these topics; however, there is still a good deal of controversy on both issues [2].
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Management of Giant Cell Arteritis to Prevent Visual Loss
- Creators
- Sohan Hayreh - University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics College of Medicine
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Ischemic Optic Neuropathies, pp.227-264
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-642-11852-4_13
- Publisher
- Springer Berlin Heidelberg; Berlin, Heidelberg
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2011
- Academic Unit
- Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9983979932402771
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