Temporal artery inflammation

Temporal artery inflammation

Of the name, is an inflammation of the temporal artery, which is more prevalent after the age of 50 years.

Symptoms:

• a headache.

• Pain in the jaw when chewing.

• Loss of vision, this may be partial or total in the affected area.

To diagnose the disease, the doctor depends on the following:

• Headache, usually different in nature and intensity than usual for the person.

• The age of the person above 50 years.

• Pain when touching the affected area.

• Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).

• Biopsy of the injured artery for examination in the tissue laboratory.

The main treatment for this problem is cortisone, but the method of use is different between intravenous or pills depending on the situation. In general, intravenous use is for severe cases where the probability of loss of sight is high.

Sometimes the doctor uses other treatments in addition to Cortisone if the person did not respond to the maximum possible dose of it.

Of possible complications of temporal artery inflammation, thoracic aortic aneurysms, so it is recommended to do chest radiographs periodically once a year for at least 10 years after diagnosis.