[Present state of ultrasonographic diagnosis of temporal arteritis. Results of a prospective study].

Temporal arteritis (TA) is a treatable systemic vasculitis with particular affinity for the temporal and orbital arteries. In a prospective study of 115 patients, we evaluated the diagnostic contribution of duplex sonography of the superficial temporal (STA), okzipital (OCCA), and carotid arteries and Doppler sonography of the supratrochlear artery (DSASTR) in patients suspected of having TA. Forty-seven patients had TA: in the STA, periarterial hypoechogenic tissue (halo) was found in 60% (OCCA 48%) and halo and stenosis in 19% (OCCA 15%) of the TA patients and in 4% of patients with other diseases. The DSASTR was abnormal in 13% of the TA patients. Arteriosclerotic carotid disease was found in 72%, >50% stenosis in 13% of the TA patients. Duplex sonography of the STA reached a diagnostic sensitivity/specificity of 78/96% compared to diagnosis and 91/82% compared to histology. In the STA/OCCA, duplex sonography is a helpful new atraumatic method for the diagnosis of TA, and DSASTR is helpful in detecting TA of the orbital arteries.