Jaw claudication in giant cell (temporal) arteritis (GCA) is believed
to be due to vasculitic obstruction or stenosis of the arteries supply
ing the muscles of mastication, notably the facial and internal maxill
ary arteries and their branches. However, histologic documentation of
this is rarely available because GCA is usually diagnosed by temporal
artery biopsies. We describe a patient with jaw claudication and other
clinical features of GCA in whom a facial artery biopsy confirmed inv
olvement by GCA.