Objectives: To determine the prevalence of cerebrovascular events (CVE) in giant cell arteritis (GCA) and to alert clinicians to the importance of early detection of CVE in this disease.

Methods: Retrospective observational study involving a cohort of GCA patients. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected. All patients fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1990 GCA classification criteria and had a positive ultrasound test for GCA in agreement with the EULAR recommendations. Demographic and clinical parameters were recorded with special attention paid to ischemic cranial events.

Results: We studied 123 consecutive GCA patients, 74 (60.2%) women with a mean age of 79 years. Twelve patients (9.75%) suffered from neurologic symptoms other than AION, of whom 9 (7.3%) experienced ischemic events related to GCA and 3 (2.44%) likely experienced CVE due to other common causes. Of the 9 patients with CVE caused by GCA, 5 were diagnosed with transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), 2 with ischemic stroke, and 2 were cases involving cranial nerve palsies. High rates of mortality were found in patients with a TIA or stroke, while polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) appeared to confer some protection against ischemic pathologies in GCA patients.

Conclusions: Stroke and TIA are common presentation patterns associated with GCA and should be suspected in all CVE-related cases with high acute-phase reactants commonly present in the elderly. This ischemic subgroup exhibited a higher mortality rate.