Long-term follow-up of aortal adverse events, as well as glucocortioid-associated adverse events in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA).

In this non-interventional cohort study the following aspects should be addressed:

• Can regular imaging procedures help to better assess the risk of aortic aneurysms and dissections over a period of 5-10 years after initial diagnosis of GCA?
• Which prognostic factors correlate with aortic events?
• What conclusions can be drawn about glucocorticoid-associated side effects over the longer (5-year) course?
• Can modern imaging in correlation with standardized clinical examination, serological markers and immunophenotypic testing define patient clusters within the clinically heterogeneous disease spectrum of GCA and PMR with the aim of individualizing therapy?
• What is the value of orbital MRI together with an ophthalmologic examination including fudoscopy and optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the detection of ischemic manifestations of GCA?
• Can a contrast agent-saving MRI technique (with 25 % less contrast agent) be used in GCA without impairing signal quality?
• Can rare lymphocyte populations be found by immunophenotyping, which provide information on the probability of recurrence or allow therapy control?

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age greater or similar to 18 years
• Primary diagnosis of GCA or PMR

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age under 18 years
• lack of capacity to consent

GCA and PMR patients will be recruited in the department of rheumatology of the university hospital of Würzburg

single center study