Diagnostic Considerations of Giant Cell Arteritis in Veterans: A Nationwide Study

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common primary systemic vasculitis in adults, but studies to date have been limited in volume or subject to retrospective meta-analysis (1). The United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) holds the nation's largest electronic medical database. Veterans comprise 7% of the American population, including 24% of the population over 75 years old (2). Building upon a clinical study of one VHA site cohort (3), we used this database to identify differences in demographics, risk factors, associated systemic conditions, and biopsy yield within the entire veteran population using novel methodology.