Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

[Primarose]

Is PAD a complication of GCA?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It can be. The inflammation on the inside of the arteries can increase the risk of it developing if it isn't controlled.

[Primarose in reply to PMRpro]

A doppler test last February indicated 0.9. Doctor said that is not related to GCA but I read somewhere that it can be a rare complication.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Primarose]

I do wish doctors wouldn't say stupid things without checking:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

says "Our study demonstrated a statistically significant increased risk of PAD among patients with GCA."

You can develop PAD without having had GCA - there is an increased risk if you have a hisotry of GCA, So there...

[Primarose in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you, brilliant article, Bookedmarked. My doctor seems to think that GCA is all in the head.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Primarose]

Have another link then:

academic.oup.com/rheumatolo...

There is PMR affecting the limbs, GCA which tends to manifest cranially (mostly in the head) and LVV (large vessel vasculitis) which does the rest and can overlap the others. Fig 1 is so simple even a GP may get it...

[Primarose in reply to PMRpro]

You are brillo, thank you PMRpro. I searched for articles but only found one which said that PAD is a rare complication.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Primarose]

Mind you - who cares if it IS rare? That means it happens...

[Primarose in reply to PMRpro]

Exactly, I've been told many times after taking certain drugs that the side effects I had were rare. Maybe not enough folk report the side effects.

[Blearyeyed in reply to Primarose]

And sometimes they do and the doctors don't believe them !

[Primarose in reply to Blearyeyed]

I was told by a doctor in A & E after taking Metronidazole. The side effects I had were supposedly "rare". He told me that "rare" is quite often common.

What amuses me is that it states in info leaflets for meds, "do not take this medicine if you are allergic to it".

How in the whatsits do we know if we are allergic to a medicine we have never taken before.

Crystal ball. I rest my case!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Primarose]

"He told me that "rare" is quite often common."

Says it all really - engage brain before opening mouth...

[alvertta in reply to PMRpro]

Hi pmrpro. Do you have any articles on the history of GCA? Thanks.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to alvertta]

No, sorry. Try googling - which is what I'd have to do to get the links. Not entirely sure what you mean by the "history"? For older info look for Horten's disease maybe.

[alvertta in reply to PMRpro]

I was thinking of who discovered, how they figured out prednisone did the trick etc. Thanks. I will google.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to alvertta]

Very spread out. GCA was first described in 1890 I think, just a couple years after PMR in 1888, but not as a specific disorder until much later, the 1930s or so. Not sure how they found pred worked - although it is reported that in the early days of using pred it was given to people in wheelchairs who got up and walked. I assume those patients had PMR rather than rheumatoid arthritis - but who knows.

[alvertta in reply to PMRpro]

Finding good stuff on google. If I am going to have this disease, I like to know where it came from. History. Thanks.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to alvertta]

Excellent!!!

[misha453]

I have PMR / GCA and Peripheral Artery Disease. The first Rheumy said PAD was unrelated to PMR/GCA, the second one said it could be a contributing factor. The vascular surgeon said it was caused by high cholesterol not PMR/GCA. Of course, before being diagnosed with PMR at 54, I was extremely active and had low cholesterol and had never taken Prednisone so it seems a very strange coincidence that I developed all of these issues over 18 months if they are unrelated.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to misha453]

Far be it for me to disagree with a surgeon but cholesterol is probably the most common cause. Not the only cause...

[misha453 in reply to PMRpro]

Very true, the surgeon said the cause was irrelevant as it would not change his approach to to fixing it.

[Q-owl]

I had intermittent claudication, April 16, saw a vascular specialist. I had a scan, Sept 16, showing a < 50% proximal stenosis in the right superficial artery. He said it was possibly mild peripheral vascular disease. I was prescribed clobidogrel and simvastatin, which resolved the problem, although by then I had concentrated on walking through the pain and I was much improved. I developed PMR, summer 17, although it wasn't diagnosed till Feb 18. My doctor says PMR and PAD/PVD are 2 quite separate conditions. But I still wonder. (Significantly, I have to declare both for travel insurance!)

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Q-owl]

Separate possibly - but they can be linked.

[Q-owl in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for the links, really interesting.

[patriciawhite]

It was in my sisters case .