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Diagnostic Considerations Of Giant Cell Arteritis In Veterans, Paul Kay, Molly Phan, Kimberly M. Winges

East Florida Research Day 2023

Please see supplemental content for full abstract with references.

Introduction: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common primary systemic vasculitis in adults, but studies to date have been limited in volume or subject to retrospective meta-analysis.1 The United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) holds the nation’s largest electronic medical database. Veterans comprise 7% of the American population, including 24% of the population over 75 years old.2 Building upon a clinical study of one VHA site cohort,3 we used this database to identify differences in demographics, risk factors, associated systemic conditions, and biopsy yield within the entire veteran population using …