The changing clinical presentation of temporal arteritis in Israel: a multicenter study

Objectives: To evaluate whether the increasing incidence of temporal arteri tis in Israel is associated with a changing clinical presentation. Methods: The demographic data and clinical manifestations of 144 TA(1) pati ents in this large multicenter study were recorded and compared with data o btained in a previous study. Results: The patient population was older, with 24% greater than or equal t o 80 years compared to 6% in the previous study. There was an increase in t he number of nonspecific presenting symptoms, and less patients presented w ith the "classical" manifestations of headache (81% vs. 71%), fever (83% vs . 40%), jaw claudication (21% vs. 13%), and visual symptoms (47% vs. 24%). The median time from presentation to diagnosis was significantly reduced, f rom 5 to 1.5 months. Conclusions: There were substantial changes in the clinical presentation of TA patients in Israel during 1980-95 compared to patients diagnosed prior to 1978. It is suggested that these changes may be attributed not only to t he influence of aging of the population, but are due largely to increasing physician awareness to the spectrum of manifestations of TA, which leads to earlier diagnosis.