Vascular Disease Patient Information Page: Giant cell (temporal) arteritis.

each side of the forehead near the ears. 3 The temporal arteries enlarge, swell, or thicken in many patients with GCA. Although GCA and temporal arteritis are synonymous, GCA can also simulta-neously affect multiple arteries, even smaller arteries in the head and neck, including the ophthalmic, occipital, vertebral, posterior ciliary, or proximal vertebral arteries. Blindness, the most serious complication of GCA, is caused by damage to the posterior ciliary branch of the ophthalmic artery. Inflammation in larger arteries can cause both aneurysm (dilation) or stenosis (narrowing) of the vessel. HLA-DRB1*04 and other genetic mutations.