OCCULT GCA

In this condition, the patient has ocular symptoms and signs but NO systemic symptoms or signs of GCA at all. Thus, ocular involvement is the sole reason for consultation. In our study, 21.2% of the GCA patients with visual loss had occult GCA.³ These patients run the greatest risk that the diagnosis of GCA will be missed and they will go blind in both eyes, because of the prevalent misconception among physicians that all GCA patients must have systemic symptoms and signs of GCA. The most common mode of presentation of occult GCA is as AION.

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