Comparing Baseline Presentation of Giant Cell Arteritis in White Versus Black Patients

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most prevalent systemic vasculitis in the elderly, and can lead to permanent vision loss if untreated. Most earlier studies have only evaluated GCA in primarily white populations, and GCA was traditionally thought to occur at nearly negligible frequency in black populations. However, our previous study showed that GCA may occur at similar rates in white and black patients.1 The purpose of this follow-up study was to determine whether or not black and white patients with GCA present with different baseline characteristics.