Mesenteric artery involvement in giant cell arteritis: Two cases and literature review

Introduction. - Mesenteric involvement has been rarely reported in giant cell arteritis (GCA). Our literature search using the Medline database I (1966-2008). reviewing all articles in English and French languages identified only 3 1 cases of mesenteric ischemia related to GCA. We report two additional cases. Case reports. - We report two men with GCA. At diagnosis of GCA-associated mesenteric involvement, patients exhibited: fever/fatigue (n = 2), abdominal complaints (it = 1). clinical sips of GCA (it = 1). In both patient,,, abdominal CT-scan showed Circumferential halo around the Superior mesenteric artery. At systematic follow-up. CT-scan revealed improvement of mesenteric damage in both patients. Conclusion. - Our study indicates that CT-scan is it useful technique in diagnosis of GCA-associated mesenteric involvement. Furthermore. we suggest that CT-scan may also be helpful in both the monitoring and the medical management of GCA-related mesenteric artery involvement. (c) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS.