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Sex Differences in Giant Cell Arteritis
RAN NIR-PAZ, ANAT GROSS, and TOVA CHAJEK-SHAUL
ABSTRACT.
Methods. We performed a retrospective study in the Hadassah University Hospitals in Jerusalem, Israel. We evaluated medical data of 88 patients (59 women, 29 men) admitted with the diagnosis of GCA or PMR between 1980 and 1998. Results. Comparison of comorbidities among patients showed that non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular accidents, and chronic renal failure are more prevalent in men, while hypertension has a trend to be more prevalent in women. In the clinical presentation of the disease, eye involvement is more prevalent in men, with a tendency towards blindness. Women tend to have higher prevalence of jaw involvement and complaints of polymyalgia. The sexes also seem to differ with respect to laboratory presentation of the disease. Conclusion. Men and women with GCA and PMR differ in their history, presentation, and laboratory findings. Our results recommend a more aggressive approach to male patients in view of the higher prevalence of severe eye involvement and blindness. (J Rheumatol 2002;29:1219-23) Key Indexing Terms:
SEX
From the Departments of Medicine and Oral Medicine, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel. R. Nir-Paz, MD, Instructor; T. Chajek-Shaul, MD, Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine; A. Gross, DMD, PhD, Department of Oral Medicine. Address reprint requests to Dr. T. Chajek-Shaul, Department of Medicine, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus, PO Box 24035, Jerusalem 91240, Israel. E-mail: chajek@hadassah.org.il Submitted May 15, 2001; revision accepted December 31, 2001.
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