Vascular ultrasound, using high-end equipment and optimized settings, may be an effective replacement for temporal artery biopsy as a first-line diagnostic tool in patients with suspected giant cell arteritis, according to a Danish study.
“Temporal artery biopsy is considered the diagnostic gold standard for giant cell arteritis,” Stavros Chrysidis, PhD, of the University of Southern Denmark, Hospital of South West Jutland, and colleagues wrote in The Lancet Rheumatology. “However, use of temporal artery biopsy in routine care has been questioned because it is an invasive