« Fausses et autres » artérites temporales

Giant cell arteritis is the most frequent vasculitis affecting the temporal artery. However, other types of vascular diseases, that are vasculitis or not, may affect the temporal artery. Among them, ANCA-associated vasculitis is probably the most common vasculitis. It typically affects peri-adventitial small vessel of the temporal artery and sometimes mimic signs of giant cell arteritis with other symptoms that are more specific of ANCA-associated vasculitis and lead to search for ANCA. IgG4-related disease can also cause temporal arteritis. Some infections can also affect the temporal artery. It essentially relies on varicella-zoster virus (VZV), a herpes virus that has an arterial tropism and whose the role in triggering giant cell arteritis has been suggested. Drugs, mainly checkpoint inhibitors that are used to treat cancer, can also trigger giant cell arteritis. The temporal artery can also be affected by diseases other than vasculitis such as atherosclerosis, calcyphilaxis, aneurysm or arteriovenous fistula. In this review, we describe these different diseases affecting the temporal artery.