FRI0500 Extracranial vascular affection in giant cell arteritis

Background Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a large vessel vasculitis with a predisposition for the cranial branches of the external carotid artery. However, aorta and/or its main branches may also be involved (1–3. Objectives To assess the vascular territories most frequently affected in a series of patients with GCA who presented extracranial vessel involvement. Methods Retrospective study of patients with GCA who presented compromise of extracranial vessels confirmed by PET/CT. Visual analysis of vascular uptake was performed on supra-aortic trunks (SAT), aortic arch (AA), thoracic aorta (TA), abdominal aorta (AA), iliac arteries (IA), lower limb arteries (LLA), and upper limb arteries (ULA). We carried out a comparative study between both sexes to see if there was any difference in the pattern of affectation. Results We evaluated 68 patients with GCA (51W/17M) with a mean age of 68.06±8.33 years. The vascular territories affected were: TA (n=58, 85.29%), SAT (n=38, 55.88%), AA (n=28, 41.18%), AA (n=18, 26.47%), LLA (n=17, 25%), IA (n=13, 19.12%) and ULA (n=6, 8.82%). We also made a study of the number of vascular territories affected: 1 vascular territory (n=13, 19.12%), 2 territories (n=22, 32.35%), 3 territories (n=18, 26.47%), 4 territories (n=12, 17.65%) and more than 4 territories (n=3, 4.41%). Likewise, a comparative study between both sexes was conducted, in which only statistical significance was achieved in the involvement of ULA, which was more frequent in men (table 1). Conclusions In patients with GCA the involvement of TA is very frequent, followed by the SAT and the AA. To a lesser extent, the AA and the LLA vessels are affected. The involvement of the IA and the ULA vessels is less frequent; the latter more frequently in men. On the other hand, the involvement of 2–3 vascular territories are the most frequent patterns. References [1] Loricera J, Blanco R, Hernandez JL, et al. Use of positron emission tomography (PET) for the diagnosis of large-vessel vasculitis. Rev Esp Med Nucl Imagen Mol. 2015;34:372–377. [2] Loricera J, Blanco R, Hernandez JL, et al. Non-infectious aortitis: a report of 32 cases from a single tertiary centre in a 4-year period and literature review. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2015;33:S19–31. [3] Loricera J, Blanco R, Hernandez JL, et al. Tocilizumab in giant cella arteritis: Multicenter open-label study of 22 patients. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2015;44:717–723. Disclosure of Interest None declared