Low back pain as presenting manifestation of giant cell arteritis associated to abdominal aortitis

M J Fernandez-Lopez; S Wamen; R Karmali; A Peretz; M A Gonzalez-Gay; J Bentin

Low back pain as presenting manifestation of giant cell arteritis associated to abdominal aortitis

Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2007 Jan-Feb;25(1 Suppl 44):S31-3.

Authors

M J Fernandez-Lopez¹, S Wamen, R Karmali, A Peretz, M A Gonzalez-Gay, J Bentin

Affiliation

¹ Division of Rheumatology, Universitary Hospital Brugmann, Brussels, Belgium. [email protected]

PMID: 17428361

Abstract

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common vasculitis in Western countries in individuals over the age of 50. The diagnosis is relatively straightforward when typical features, such as headache, jaw claudication or other ischemic complications are present. Although atypical presentations of GCA have been described, herein we report for first time low back pain as the presenting manifestation of this vasculitis. We also emphasize the importance of considering the use of positron emission tomography (PET) in the evaluation of GCA patients presenting without "overt" cranial ischemic manifestations.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Administration, Oral
Aorta, Abdominal / pathology*
Aorta, Thoracic / pathology*
Aortitis / complications
Aortitis / drug therapy
Aortitis / pathology*
Aspirin / therapeutic use
Drug Therapy, Combination
Female
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
Giant Cell Arteritis / complications
Giant Cell Arteritis / drug therapy
Giant Cell Arteritis / pathology*
Glucocorticoids / therapeutic use
Humans
Low Back Pain / drug therapy
Low Back Pain / etiology
Low Back Pain / pathology*
Methylprednisolone / therapeutic use
Middle Aged
Positron-Emission Tomography
Prednisolone / therapeutic use
Remission Induction
Treatment Outcome

Substances

Glucocorticoids
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
Prednisolone
Aspirin
Methylprednisolone