Updated classification criteria for GCA diagnosis
| Classification Criteria for Giant Cell Arteritisa |
|---|
| 2022 American College of Rheumatology & European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology |
| Absolute requirement |
| • Age ≥50 years at time of diagnosis |
| Additional clinical criteria |
| • Morning stiffness in shoulder/neck area +2 |
| • Sudden visual loss +3 |
| • Jaw or tongue claudication +2 |
| • New temporal headache +2 |
| • Scalp tenderness +2 |
| • Abnormal examination of temporal artery +2 |
| Laboratory, imaging & biopsy criteria |
| • Maximum ESR ≥50 mm/h or maximum CRP ≥10 mg/L +3 |
| • Positive temporal artery biopsy or halo sign on ultrasound +5 |
| • Bilateral axillary involvement +2 |
| • FDG-PET activity throughout aorta +2 |
| Sum the scores for 10 items, if present. A score of ≥6 points is needed for diagnosis of giant cell arteritis |
| aConsideration while applying the criteria |
| • Classification criteria should be applied when a diagnosis of medium-vessel or large-vessel vasculitis has been made |
| • Alternate diagnosis mimicking vasculitis should be excluded before applying the criteria |
↵a Adapted from Ponte C, Grayson PC, Robson JC; DCVAS Study Group, et al. 2022 American College of Rheumatology/EULAR classification criteria for giant cell arteritis. Arthritis Rheumatol 2022;74:1881–89.