Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35064750›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of rheumatic diseases2022

The diagnostic accuracy of temporal artery ultrasound and temporal artery biopsy in giant cell arteritis: A single center Australian experience over 10 years.

Jianna He, Luke Williamson, Beverly Ng, Jeremy Wang, Nicholas Manolios, Socrates Angelides, David Farlow, Peter K K Wong

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of rheumatic diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Advanced Imaging Techniques Use in Giant Cell Arteritis Diagnosis: The Experience at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jianna HeDepartment of Rheumatology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5363-7062
Luke WilliamsonDepartment of Rheumatology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Beverly NgDepartment of Rheumatology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0787-9770
Jeremy WangDepartment of Rheumatology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Nicholas ManoliosDepartment of Rheumatology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Socrates AngelidesFaculty of Medicine and Health, Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
David FarlowDepartment of Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Peter K K WongDepartment of Rheumatology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2182-1815
Westmead Hospital · AUThe University of Sydney · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimTo assess the diagnostic accuracy of temporal artery ultrasound compared with temporal artery biopsy and clinical diagnosis in patients with suspected giant cell arteritis (GCA) over 10 years in an Australian center.

methodPatients presenting to Westmead Hospital with possible GCA from March 2011 to December 2020 were retrospectively identified. The following parameters were obtained from the medical record: clinical presentation, inflammatory markers, temporal artery ultrasound findings, and temporal artery biopsy report. Data were assembled in a 2 × 2 table; sensitivity and specificity of temporal artery ultrasound compared with temporal artery biopsy and clinical diagnosis were calculated.

resultsOver the 10-year study period, 65 temporal artery ultrasounds were performed in 63 patients (n = 65; 61.9% female) with a mean ± standard deviation age of 69.6 ± 12.3 years. Thirteen out of 65 (20%) temporal artery ultrasounds had findings suggestive of GCA. Twenty patients (31.7%) had a clinical diagnosis of GCA irrespective of sonographic or biopsy findings. Compared with temporal artery biopsy, temporal artery ultrasound had a sensitivity of 71.4% and specificity of 93.3%. Compared with clinical diagnosis made by the treating rheumatologist, temporal artery ultrasound had a sensitivity of 55% and specificity of 95.3%.

conclusionTemporal artery ultrasound is a useful non-invasive investigation in the assessment of suspected GCA. If positive in the setting of a suggestive clinical presentation, a temporal artery ultrasound probably avoids the need for a temporal artery biopsy. Temporal artery ultrasound could be more widely used in the clinical management of GCA.

Indexed as

Giant Cell ArteritisTemporal ArteriesAgedAged, 80 and overAustraliaBiopsyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective Studiesgiant cell arteritistemporal arterytemporal artery biopsytemporal artery ultrasound

Identifiers

PMID35064750
PMCPMC9305537
OpenAlexW4206948302

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.