Clinical Decision-Making Case: A Giant Headache
Mark Portman, Linda Herman · 2025
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Description
Mark Portman and Linda Herman present a certifying-exam practice case for emergency medicine residents and medical students, built around giant cell arteritis. The condition, also called temporal arteritis, is the most common systemic vasculitis. Patients typically present with a new, distinctive headache and tenderness in the temporal region. Jaw claudication and transient visual loss may accompany it, along with constitutional symptoms such as fever and fatigue.
Its mechanism is an exaggerated immune response to vascular injury, with giant cell formation narrowing vessel lumens. Incidence is highest in Scandinavia, lowest in East Asia, and rises steeply with age, peaking in the seventies and almost never appearing under fifty. Untreated, the disease can cause permanent vision loss, while treatment itself carries harms. The case trains clinicians to suspect it fast and protect vision.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Mark Portman, Linda Herman |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 33 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |