An unusual presentation of temporal arteritis.

Serious ocular and systemic complications may result from inflammatory processes of the orbit. Temporal arteritis is one such process that can affect the eye. The patient described herein is unusual because she presented initially with signs and symptoms similar to orbital cellulitis. As her disease evolved, she displayed marked, hemorrhagic chemosis with some limitation of abduction and resistance to retropulsion on the involved side. Laboratory and radiologic findings eliminated orbital cellulitis, limited Wegener's granulomatosis, and other systemic inflammatory disorders and led to the diagnosis of temporal arteritis. To our knowledge, this complex of presenting signs has not been previously reported.