Ciliary artery involvement in giant cell arteritis.

THIS condition was first established as a clinical and pathological entity by Although involvement of the temporal arteries is a frequent and often dominant clinical feature, it has long been known that many other arteries may be similarly affected and the term cranial arteritis was suggested from involvement of the branches of the internal and external carotid arteries. Other branches of the aorta may be affected and it has been shown that small arteries are vulnerable as well as larger ones (Crompton, 1959). Frequently there are associated features of a general illness, such as malaise, anorexia, fever, and loss of weight. That the condition is a generalized vascular disease was emphasized by Cooke, Cloake, Govan, and Colbeck (1946) and Heptinstall, Porter, and Barkley (1954) and it is now usually called 'giant cell arteritis', thereby stressing one of its histological features.