Case Reports
Man-in-a-barrel syndrome: a rare presentation of giant cell arteritis
C. Bounia1, Z. Kefalopoulou2, D. Veltsista3, E. Chroni4, S.-N. Liossis5
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Patras University Hospital, Rion, Patras, Greece.
- Department of Neurology, Patras University Hospital, and Department of Neurology, University of Patras Medical School, Rion, Patras, Greece.
- Department of Neurology, Patras University Hospital, Rion, Patras, Greece.
- Department of Neurology, Patras University Hospital, and Department of Neurology, University of Patras Medical School, Rion, Patras, Greece.
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Patras University Hospital, and Department of Medicine, University of Patras Medical School, Rion, Patras, Greece. snliossis@med.upatras.gr
CER15521
2022 Vol.40, N°4
PI 0838, PF 0840
Case Reports
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PMID: 35485423 [PubMed]
Received: 23/01/2022
Accepted : 14/02/2022
In Press: 27/04/2022
Published: 04/05/2022
Abstract
We present herein the case of a patient with brachial plexopathy, the first manifestation of giant cell arteritis (GCA). A 71-year-old woman presented with a subacute-onset weakness of her upper extremities; the patient had an initially good clinical response to steroid treatment. However, a few weeks after steroid discontinuation, she manifested fever and fatigue and increased serum markers consistent with a systemic inflammatory response. A PET-CT scan revealed an increased uptake in the subclavian arteries and a temporal biopsy was typical for GCA. Oral administration of high dosage steroids improved the patient’s clinical symptoms and normalised her inflammatory serum markers.
