Glossodynia and necrosis of the tongue caused by giant cell arteritis

Temporal arteritis presenting with tongue necrosis

“…Endovascular damage ensues and the vascular lumen may become stenosed or completely occluded secondary to proliferation of the intima, and thrombosis. Ischaemic features and necrosis may develop in the areas supplied by the affected arteries 5 6. In our patient, the upper respiratory tract infection that preceded onset of the lingular numbness and pain may have triggered GCA.…”

“…Numbness, pain and necrosis of the tongue are all rare symptoms which necessitate consideration of a wide range of differential diagnoses by the attending clinician. Tongue numbness and pain without any clinical signs implies an endogenous, haematological or endocrinological abnormality and maybe the earliest feature suggestive of lingular ischaemia 5. Lingular necrosis in itself is an especially rare manifestation as the rich collateral supply of the tongue would be expected to provide a compensatory vascular supply.…”

Tongue Necrosis Secondary to Giant Cell Arteritis: A Case Report and Literature Review

“…While GCA is the main cause of tongue necrosis, other less common etiologies should be excluded, like carcinoma, embolism, drug use, radiation, syphilis, tuberculosis, chemotherapy, among others [1, 8, 12]. Other causes were not present in this case report; thus treatment was initiated for GCA, since the patient met four of the five criteria cited by the American College of Rheumatology: aged over 50 years, reduced temporal pulse, ESR greater than 50 mm/h, and a compatible biopsy [5, 8, 9].…”

“…We identified 22 articles published between 2000 and 2015 [1–12, 16–25], which reported 25 cases (Table 1). We found that most patients with GCA-associated lingual necrosis were older females.…”

004. Curry-Assisted Diagnosis in the Rheumatology Clinic

“…Tongue claudication indicates tongue ischaemia and should be detected early in order to avoid progression to necrosis, which happens through stenosis and occlusion of the lingual and contralateral arteries [2]. Tongue necrosis is rare [3][4][5]. It suggests very active GCA involving multiple vessels [6].…”