Giant cell arteritis in India: Report from a tertiary care center along with total published experience from India

OBJECTIVES: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a granulomatous large vessel vasculitis with very scarce data from India. The purpose of this study was to present a comprehensive data of all published Indian cases along with our experience from North India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of all patients diagnosed to be having GCA according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria at a large tertiary care hospital. The demographic data, clinical, investigations, treatment details, and outcomes were noted. Details of all case series and case reports published from India were pooled along with our experience in order to generate a cumulative data of all cases from India. This was then compared with several large published case series from South America, Europe, and Asia. RESULTS: A total of 72 patients (17 patients in the present series and another 55 patients from other Indian case series and case reports) were identified. The findings of our study are similar to the studies published from other parts of the world, except for the onset of the disease a decade earlier, a male predilection, a lower temporal artery biopsy positivity, and a higher incidence of ophthalmic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Indian patients with GCA have an earlier age of onset, male preponderance, and higher ophthalmic complications.