Occult temporal arteritis--a case report (author's transl)

A 57-year-old female patient with ischaemic papilloedema developed vascular pseudopapillitis of the opposite eye three months later. Temporal arteritis was diagnosed by means of a biopsy of the temporal arteries. Such cases of occult temporal arteritis are characterized by the absence of typical general symptoms and pathological laboratory findings, or, alternatively, these symptoms appear only much later than the ischaemic alteration to the fundus. Hence, one should consider occult temporal arteritis when confronted with any ischaemic process of the optic nerve, and also in the case of occlusion of the central retinal artery, expecially in cases with a simultaneous rise in the blood-sedimentation rate, since high doses of steroids, when given in time, may prevent total loss of sight.