Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: Improving the Diagnosis and Prognostication of Giant Cell Arteritis Through the Novel Use of Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Microbiological and Immune Biomarkers
Brief Summary:
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a medium to large vessel vasculitis with a predilection for the superficial cranial and intrathoracic arteries. Diagnosing the condition and predicting which patients will develop large vessel complications remains a challenge. There are limitations with temporal artery biopsy, magnetic resonance angiography and ultrasound of temporal arteries and American College of Rheumatology classification criteria.
Positron emission tomography (PET) has been shown to be a useful modality in detecting inflammation in large intra-thoracic vessels but previously has not been able to accurately detect FDG uptake in the superficial cranial arteries due to poor spatial resolution. Newer scanners can perform finer cuts of the head and can detect uptake in these arteries.
This study has three main components: