Case Report

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Associated with Necrotizing Temporal Arteritis

KENNETH J. WARRINGTON, BERND W. SCHEITHAUER, and CLEMENT J. MICHET

ABSTRACT.

The clinical presentation of new onset headache, temporal artery tenderness, and elevated inflammatory markers is classical for giant cell arteritis (GCA). We describe a patient who presented with clinical features of GCA, but was found to have isolated necrotizing arteritis of the temporal artery in the setting of acute myeloid leukemia. This report emphasizes that if the temporal artery histology is not classical for GCA, or if the response to treatment is incomplete, further evaluation for systemic or paraneoplastic vasculitis should be considered. (J Rheumatol 2003;30:846-8)

Key Indexing Terms:

TEMPORAL ARTERITIS
LEUKEMIA
VASCULITIS

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From the Division of Rheumatology and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

K.J. Warrington, MD, Rheumatology Trainee; C.J. Michet, MD, Consultant, Division of Rheumatology; B.W. Scheithauer, MD, Consultant, Anatomic Pathology.

Address reprint requests to Dr. K.J. Warrington, Division of Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905.

Submitted March 18, 2002; revision accepted September 10, 2002.

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