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Temporal arteritis
Alternative Names: Arteritis - temporal; Cranial arteritis; Giant cell arteritis Symptoms: fever a throbbing headache on one side of the head or the back of the head scalp sensitivity, tenderness when touching the scalp jaw pain, intermittent or when chewing vision difficulties blurred vision, double vision reduced vision, blindness in one or both eyes weakness, excessive tiredness a general ill feeling a loss of appetite weight loss (more than 5% of total body weight) muscle aches excessive sweating Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease: mouth sores joint stiffness joint pain hearing loss bleeding gums face pain Signs and tests: Text Continues Below When the doctor feels (palpates) the head, the scalp is sensitive and often shows a tender, thick artery on one side of the head. The affected artery may have a weakened pulse or no pulse. About 40% of people will have other nonspecific symptoms such as respiratory complaints (most frequently dry cough) or mononeuritis multiplex (weakness and/or pain of multiple individual nerve groups). Rarely, paralysis of eye muscles) may occur. A persistent fever may be the only symptom. Blood tests are nonspecific. A sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein are almost always very high. A hemoglobin or hematocrit may be normal or low. Liver function tests may be abnormal, including elevated alkaline phosphatase, if the disorder is systemic. Page:  1 | 2 | Next >>