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Case Reports
. 2023 May 23;16(5):e253484.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2022-253484.

Giant cell arteritis presenting with unilateral sixth nerve palsy

Matthew Colquhoun  1 , Javier Alegre Abarrategui  2 , Muhammad Ibrahim Shahzad  3 , Benjamin Ellis  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Giant cell arteritis presenting with unilateral sixth nerve palsy

Matthew Colquhoun et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) usually presents with headache, scalp tenderness and raised inflammatory markers. GCA presenting with a clinically evident cranial nerve palsy is rare and may result in a delayed or missed diagnosis if not suspected. We present the rare case of a woman in her 70s with histologically confirmed GCA presenting with a unilateral sixth nerve palsy, which responded to treatment with high-dose oral prednisolone.

Keywords: Cranial nerves; Vasculitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Temporal artery biopsy (A, B): while no giant cells are seen, there is florid lymphohistiocytic inflammation in this temporal artery, it is mainly in the adventitia, but focally penetrates into the media and reaches the level of the internal elastic lamina, which shows extensive damage on elastic Van Gieson’s (EVG) stain.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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