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Abstract #3862

Early Corticosteroid Treatment Effects on MRI and Ultrasonography Findings in Giant Cell Arteritis

Thorsten Alexander Bley1, Matthias Reinhardt2, Julia Geiger2, Michael Markl3, Andreas Hetzel2, Andrasz Treszl, Carolin Hauenstein2

1Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; 2University Hospital Freiburg; 3Northwestern University

Corticosteroids are the mainstay of treatment in Giant cell arteritis (GCA). High resolution MRI and color-coded duplex ultrasonography (CCDS) have proven feasible for non-invasive diagnosis of mural inflammatory changes in active GCA. This study indicates that for first-time diagnostic imaging in GCA the sensitive period of detecting univocal changes of inflammation is very short, potentially as short as one day. Therefore, CCDS or MRI examination of patients with suspected GCA should be performed as soon as possible, preferentially within the first day after onset of steroid treatment.

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Keywords

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