Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a vasculitis of arteries, typically those in the head and neck.
GCA is a medical emergency.
Symptoms typically include headache, severe pain and tenderness over the temples (hence GCA is also called temporal arteritis) and the scalp, jaw pain while eating (jaw claudication), and flu-like symptoms.
Visual disturbance (double vision or visual loss) and jaw claudication demands urgent medical attention, with high-dose steroid as management.