An 81-year-old woman with a CFS of 4 presents with a 3-week history of unilateral temporal headache, jaw claudication, and scalp tenderness. She has a...

Question

An 81-year-old woman with a CFS of 4 presents with a 3-week history of unilateral temporal headache, jaw claudication, and scalp tenderness. She has also noticed deterioration in vision in her left eye over the past 24 hours. ESR is 78 mm/hr, CRP 62 mg/L. What is the MOST urgent action?

Accepted Answer

Start high-dose Prednisolone (60 mg daily) immediately and arrange urgent same-day referral to ophthalmology

Answer

Prescribe Paracetamol for headache and review in 1 week

Answer

Request a temporal artery biopsy before starting treatment

Answer

Prescribe Amitriptyline for neuropathic headache

Answer

Start Methotrexate as a steroid-sparing agent

uk-dgm MCQ (SBA): Giant Cell Arteritis - Emergency Management

An 81-year-old woman with a CFS of 4 presents with a 3-week history of unilateral temporal headache, jaw claudication, and scalp tenderness. She has also noticed deterioration in vision in her left eye over the past 24 hours. ESR is 78 mm/hr, CRP 62 mg/L. What is the MOST urgent action?