The University of Washington has helped pioneer the use of vascular ultrasound for giant cell arteritis and studies the care of GCA patients through our Fast Track Clinic. Below are our peer-reviewed publications, each with a plain-language summary of what we found.
Rheumatology International
We tested whether simple ratios calculated from a routine blood count (the complete blood count, or CBC) can help support a GCA diagnosis and predict outcomes — a low-cost, widely available tool to aid evaluation.
Read on PubMed →Rheumatology International
Most people with GCA have elevated inflammation blood tests (ESR and CRP), but some do not. We describe this group to raise awareness that normal markers do not rule out GCA and can lead to missed or delayed diagnoses.
Read on PubMed →The Journal of Rheumatology
Tocilizumab is an important medication for GCA. We measured how long patients waited to start it and found that insurance prior-authorization requirements contributed to meaningful treatment delays.
Read on PubMed →Clinical Rheumatology
AION is the main cause of GCA-related vision loss. We identified clinical features that were more common in patients who developed AION, which may help flag those at higher risk.
Read on PubMed →Journal of Clinical Rheumatology
We examined whether including the common carotid artery in the vascular ultrasound exam adds useful information when evaluating patients for GCA.
Read on PubMed →Journal of Clinical Rheumatology
We showed that scanning the subclavian arteries during the ultrasound exam can add valuable diagnostic information in GCA, beyond examining the temporal arteries alone.
Read on PubMed →ACR Open Rheumatology
Our foundational paper describing how we built one of the first U.S. fast-track vascular-ultrasound protocols for GCA, performed by trained vascular sonographers.
Read on PubMed →