Bilateral Vertebral Artery Vasculitis—A Rare Manifestation of Giant Cell Arteritis and a Difficult Diagnosis Made Possible by 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT

• Published in: Diagnostics (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 879
• Main Authors: Justesen, Natasja Degn, Hansen, Michael Stormly, Jensen, Mads Radmer, Klefter, Oliver Niels, Brittain, Jane Maestri, Hamann, Steffen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 14-05-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT; bilateral vertebral artery vasculitis; Biopsy; Conflicts of interest; giant cell arteritis; Inflammation; Interesting Images; Ischemia; large vessel vasculitis; Muscle pain; temporal artery biopsy; Ultrasonic imaging; Veins & arteries; vertebrobasilar insufficiency
• ISSN: 2075-4418; 2075-4418
• DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics11050879

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of large vessel vasculitis. GCA is a medical and ophthalmological emergency, and rapid diagnosis and treatment with high-dose corticosteroids is critical in order to reduce the risk of stroke and sudden irreversible loss of vision. GCA can be difficult to diagnose due to insidious and unspecific symptoms—especially if typical superficial extracranial arteries are not affected. In these cases, verification of clinical diagnosis using temporal artery biopsy is not possible. This example illustrates the diagnostic value of hybrid imaging with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (2-[18F]FDG PET/CT), and the limitations of the temporal artery biopsy in bilateral vertebral GCA, causing transient ischemic attack in the visual cortex. In addition it indicates that inflammation in the artery wall can be visualized on 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT despite long term and ongoing high dose glucocorticoid treatment.