GIANT CELL ARTERITIS. THE IMPORTANCE OF IMMEDIATE AND APPROPRIATE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT FOR BETTER PROGNOSIS. CASE REPORT

The article describes the case of a 68 old patient suffering from Horton's temporal arteritis, who came to our attention with a large and sudden visual loss due to occlusion of major retinal arteries, without other symptoms. The next day, for thorough examination, the patient went to Day Hospital with a further worsening of the visual loss which required immediate admission to the ophthalmological ward that lasted 10 days. During the observation period it was difficult to achieve an instant diagnosis due to the absence of clinical signs or diagnostic tests for Horton’s arteritis. Only after the third day of hospitalization when a corticosteroid therapy was undertaken following the appearance of significant systemic symptoms, did the patient began to show a gradual improvement in overall clinical status. The case highlights the difficulty in making a rapid diagnosis of Horton's disease and the efficacy of early steroid therapy in this vascular autoimmune disease that otherwise may result in irreversible functional and debilitating systemic damage