Disseminated visceral giant cell arteritis: histopathologic description and differentiation from other granulomatous vasculitides.

Disseminated visceral giant cell arteristic, a previously unknown entity, was observed in four autopsied patients, all men, aged 33, 67, 59 and 45 years. None of the patients had temporal arteritis, collagen disease, sarcoidosis, hepatitis or other infections, and vasculitis was diagnosed only after death. All had giant cell arteritis of extracranial arteries and arterioles in at least three of the following organs: the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and stomach in various combinations. Despite some histopathologic similarities, disseminated visceral giant cell arteritis can be distinguished from other necrotizing and granulomatous vasculitides by the type of vessels principally affected and the presence or absence of giant cells, vascular fibrinoid necrosis and eosinophilic infiltrates. The observations suggest that it is a distinctive type of systemic vasculitis.