Giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica: Role of viral infections

P. Duhaut^1,3, S. Bosshard², C. Dumontet²

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Edouard Herriot Hospital; ²Laboratory of Virology and ³RECIF (Réseau d'Epidémiologie Clinique International Francophone), Claude Bernard University, Lyon, France.

ABSTRACT
We performed a multicenter case-control study on incident cases of giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia, and tested for viruses known to induce multinucleated giant cells in human pathology. IgM directed against Human parainfluenza type 1 virus were shown to be significantly associated with the onset of the disease in 40% of the cases, versus 20% of the controls.

Key words
Giant cell arteritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, case-control study, multicentric, incident cases, viral aetiology, parainfluenza type 1 virus, serology.

Please address correspondence and reprint requests to: Pierre Duhaut, MD, Service de Medecine Interne, Pavillon H, Hopital Edouard Herriot, 69437 Lyon Cedex 03, France. 
E-mail; pierre.duhaut@infonie.fr

Clin Exp Rheumatol 2000: 18 (Suppl. 20): S22-S23.
© Copyright Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2000.