COLOR DUPLEX ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF TEMPORAL ARTERITIS

Background The diagnosis of temporal arteritis usually requires a biop sy of the temporal artery. We examined the usefulness of color duplex ultrasonography in patients suspected of having temporal arteritis. Me thods In this prospective study, all patients seen in the departments of rheumatology and ophthalmology from January 1994 to October 1996 wh o had clinically suspected active temporal arteritis or polymyalgia rh eumatica were examined by duplex ultrasonography. The final diagnoses, made according to standard criteria, were temporal arteritis in 30 pa tients, 21 with biopsy-confirmed disease; polymyalgia rheumatica in 37 ; and negative histologic findings and a diagnosis other than temporal arteritis or polymyalgia rheumatica in 15. We also studied 30 control patients matched for age and sex to the patients with arteritis. Two ultrasound studies were performed and read before the biopsies; one ul trasonographer was unaware of the clinical information. Results In 22 (73 percent) of the 30 patients with temporal arteritis, ultrasonograp hy showed a dark halo around the lumen of the temporal arteries. The h alos disappeared after a mean of 16 days (range, 7 to 56) of treatment with corticosteroids. Twenty four patients (80 percent) had stenoses or occlusions of temporal-artery segments, and 28 patients (93 per cen t) had stenoses, occlusions, or a halo. No halos were identified in th e 82 patients without temporal arteritis; 6 (7 percent) had stenoses o r occlusions. For each of the three types of abnormalities identified by ultrasonography, the interrater agreement was greater than or equal to 95 percent. Conclusions There are characteristic signs of temporal arteritis that can be visualized by color duplex ultrasonography. The most specific sign is a dark halo, which may be due to edema of the a rtery wall. In patients with typical clinical signs and a halo on ultr asonography, it may be possible to make a diagnosis of temporal arteri tis and begin treatment without performing a temporal-artery biopsy. ( C) 1997, Massachusetts Medical Society.