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. 2012 Jun 26;4(3):e46.
doi: 10.4081/rt.2012.e46. Epub 2012 Sep 20.

Giant cell temporal arteritis associated with overlying basal cell carcinoma: co-incidence or connection?

Etienne Mahe  1 , Dina El Demellawy, Anita Bane, Salem Alowami
Affiliations

Giant cell temporal arteritis associated with overlying basal cell carcinoma: co-incidence or connection?

Etienne Mahe et al. Rare Tumors. .

Abstract

Giant cell arteritis is a granulomatous vasculitis of large and medium sized arteries manifesting as temporal arteritis and/or polymyalgia rheumatica. The histological assessment of temporal artery biopsies is frequently encountered in anatomical pathology and has important diagnostic consequences in patients clinically suspected of having giant cell arteritis. We present an intriguing case of giant cell arteritis associated with a Basal cell carcinoma and discuss the ongoing controversy pertaining to the association of giant cell arteritis/polymyalgia rheumatica with malignancy.

Keywords: basal cell carcinoma.; giant cell arteritis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interests: the authors report no conflicts of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Low-power photomicrograph demonstrating basal cell carcinoma component (top left) with underlying giant-cell arteritis (bottom right) (Hematoxylin and Eosin, 20×).
Figure 2
Figure 2
A) Basal cell carcinoma (Hematoxylin and Eosin, 40×); B) giant-cell arteritis (Hematoxylin and Eosin, 100×); C) giant-cell arteritis (Elastic Van-Gieson, 100×).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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