Giant cell arteritis in a patient with bilateral parotid swelling as the first sign of the disease: a case report

Abstract

We report a case of a patient with vision loss, whose diagnosis of temporal arteritis was confirmed by temporal artery biopsy. The patient presented with bilateral parotid swelling, amaurosis fugax, jaw claudication, and then headache. after the introduction of glucocorticoid therapy, the symptoms of the disease subsided, but there was a permanent loss of vision in one eye. This case indicates that it is important to consider temporal arteritis as a differential diagnosis in patients older than 50 with amaurosis fugax or other atypical symptoms that may precede the headache. a multidisciplinary approach involving neurologist, otorhinolaryngologist, infectiologist, ophthalmologist, and rheuma-tologist is key to early diagnosis and start of appropriate treatment that reduces the risk of permanent vision loss.