This website cannot replace a visit to the doctor’s office. Consult with your physician if you have any medical problem!

“Don’t walk in front of me…I may not follow.

Don’t walk behind me…I don’t want to lead.

Walk beside me…Be my friend.”

Albert Camus, (1913-1960), French philosopher and writer, born in Algeria.

Vasculitis of the Lung

This huge collection of various disorders has been studied since the advent of microscopy, and more so for one century.

My purpose cannot be to add to those, as my experience is insufficient.

I only realized in my practice that pneumologists and more so GPs are unaware of one common entity, which appears to be the most frequent on histological slides.

This is the Giganto-Cellular Angiitis, also known as Temporal Arteritis.

Its reported prevalence is 0,5-27/100’000 patients over 50 years, which all by itself is a clear indication of the difficulty practitioners have with its diagnosis.

Well known symptoms are headaches and pains in proximal extremities, with weakness of legs.

Most reported laboratory sign is an extremely accelerated blood sedimentation rate, unexplained by other signs and symptoms.

X-Rays of the chest already shows nodular or streaky slight modifications, which are most often misinterpreted.

Since a long time corticosteroids have been employed as therapy.

As for other vasculitis this one most probably is an autoimmune disease.