HEPATIC GIANT-CELL ARTERITIS AND POLYMYALGIA-RHEUMATICA

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a clinical syndrome of the elderly cha racterized by malaise, proximal muscle aching and stiffness, low grade fever, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and the frequent assoc iation with temporal giant cell arteritis. The authors describe a case of PMR associated with hepatic giant cell arteritis. This lesion has been described in two other clinical reports. The distribution of the arteritis may be patchy; in this report, diagnosis was made with a wed ge biopsy performed after an initial nonspecific percutaneous liver bi opsy. The authors review the spectrum of liver involvement in PMR and giant cell arteritis. Hepatic abnormalities respond to systemic cortic osteroids, and patients with hepatic arteritis have a good prognosis.