HORTON’S DISEASE IN ELDERLY WOMEN: STILL AN OVERLOOKED DIAGNOSIS?
Introduction. Horton’s disease is the most common form of vasculitis that occurs in patients older than 50 years. Due to its unusual clinical manifestation, the disease is often misdiagnosed and managed inappropriately. Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatment are essential to reduce the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Amaltea Medical Publishing House
2019-06-01
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| Series: | Romanian Journal of Rheumatology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://revistemedicale.amaltea.ro/Romanian_Journal_of_RHEUMATOLOGY/Revista_Romana_de_REUMATOLOGIE-2019-Nr.2/RJR_2019_2_Art-05.pdf |
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| author | Anca Cardoneanu Diana Popescu Alexandra Burlui Luana Andreea Macovei Elena Rezus |
| author_facet | Anca Cardoneanu Diana Popescu Alexandra Burlui Luana Andreea Macovei Elena Rezus |
| author_sort | Anca Cardoneanu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction. Horton’s disease is the most common form of vasculitis that occurs in patients older than 50 years.
Due to its unusual clinical manifestation, the disease is often misdiagnosed and managed inappropriately. Early
diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatment are essential to reduce the risk of severe neuro-ophthalmic complications.
Case presentation. We present the case of a 71-year-old woman, with a family history of autoimmune disease,
who complains of bilateral shoulder and pelvic girdle pain, low fever, jaw claudication and amaurosis fugax. After the initial tests that have been made in other departments, the patient has been diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia and treated with iron tablets. Because of the lack of improvement in the clinical manifestations and unresponsive anaemia to oral iron treatment, the patient was admitted to our rheumatology department 5 months later.
The anamnestic, clinical and paraclinical tests results along with the presence of the diagnosis criteria, allowed
us to establish the Horton’s disease diagnosis. The patient immediately received corticosteroid therapy having a prompt clinical and paraclinical response.
Conclusion. Even if sometimes it can be hard to reach the diagnosis, every effort should be made to achieve it.
The treatment should be started as soon as the clinical diagnosis has been made to prevent blindness and other
potentially irreversible ischemic complications of Horton’s disease. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T08:58:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-37cc3d843cdb445e8a84003f4daf5b02 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1843-0791 2069-6086 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T08:58:31Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | Amaltea Medical Publishing House |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Romanian Journal of Rheumatology |
| spelling | doaj.art-37cc3d843cdb445e8a84003f4daf5b022022-12-21T22:37:14ZengAmaltea Medical Publishing HouseRomanian Journal of Rheumatology1843-07912069-60862019-06-01282767910.37897/RJR.2019.2.5HORTON’S DISEASE IN ELDERLY WOMEN: STILL AN OVERLOOKED DIAGNOSIS?Anca Cardoneanu0Diana Popescu1Alexandra Burlui2Luana Andreea Macovei3Elena Rezus4Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi; Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital, IasiGrigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi; Saint Spiridon Emergency Clinical Hospital, IasiGrigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi; Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital, IasiGrigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi; Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital, IasiGrigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi; Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital, IasiIntroduction. Horton’s disease is the most common form of vasculitis that occurs in patients older than 50 years. Due to its unusual clinical manifestation, the disease is often misdiagnosed and managed inappropriately. Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatment are essential to reduce the risk of severe neuro-ophthalmic complications. Case presentation. We present the case of a 71-year-old woman, with a family history of autoimmune disease, who complains of bilateral shoulder and pelvic girdle pain, low fever, jaw claudication and amaurosis fugax. After the initial tests that have been made in other departments, the patient has been diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia and treated with iron tablets. Because of the lack of improvement in the clinical manifestations and unresponsive anaemia to oral iron treatment, the patient was admitted to our rheumatology department 5 months later. The anamnestic, clinical and paraclinical tests results along with the presence of the diagnosis criteria, allowed us to establish the Horton’s disease diagnosis. The patient immediately received corticosteroid therapy having a prompt clinical and paraclinical response. Conclusion. Even if sometimes it can be hard to reach the diagnosis, every effort should be made to achieve it. The treatment should be started as soon as the clinical diagnosis has been made to prevent blindness and other potentially irreversible ischemic complications of Horton’s disease.https://revistemedicale.amaltea.ro/Romanian_Journal_of_RHEUMATOLOGY/Revista_Romana_de_REUMATOLOGIE-2019-Nr.2/RJR_2019_2_Art-05.pdfhorton’s diseasevasculitiselderly womentemporal arteritis |
| spellingShingle | Anca Cardoneanu Diana Popescu Alexandra Burlui Luana Andreea Macovei Elena Rezus HORTON’S DISEASE IN ELDERLY WOMEN: STILL AN OVERLOOKED DIAGNOSIS? Romanian Journal of Rheumatology horton’s disease vasculitis elderly women temporal arteritis |
| title | HORTON’S DISEASE IN ELDERLY WOMEN: STILL AN OVERLOOKED DIAGNOSIS? |
| title_full | HORTON’S DISEASE IN ELDERLY WOMEN: STILL AN OVERLOOKED DIAGNOSIS? |
| title_fullStr | HORTON’S DISEASE IN ELDERLY WOMEN: STILL AN OVERLOOKED DIAGNOSIS? |
| title_full_unstemmed | HORTON’S DISEASE IN ELDERLY WOMEN: STILL AN OVERLOOKED DIAGNOSIS? |
| title_short | HORTON’S DISEASE IN ELDERLY WOMEN: STILL AN OVERLOOKED DIAGNOSIS? |
| title_sort | horton s disease in elderly women still an overlooked diagnosis |
| topic | horton’s disease vasculitis elderly women temporal arteritis |
| url | https://revistemedicale.amaltea.ro/Romanian_Journal_of_RHEUMATOLOGY/Revista_Romana_de_REUMATOLOGIE-2019-Nr.2/RJR_2019_2_Art-05.pdf |
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