Main characteristics of diagnostic studies on MRI in cranial giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK)
| Study ID | n | n female (%) | Inclusion criteria | Reference standard | n Final diagn GCA/TAK(%) | n TAB+ (%) | n LV-GCA | Investigated structures | Elementary lesions | RoB |
| GCA | ||||||||||
| Bley et al 33 | 21 | 11 (52) | Headache, jaw claudication, TA tenderness/induration/pulse decrement, visual impairment | ACR criteria or TAB | 9 (43) | 5 (56) | NR | TA, occipital | Wall thickening+contrast enhancement score1–4 | Low |
| Bley et al 34 | 64 | 31 (48) | Headache, TA tenderness, visual impairment, increased APR | Clinical diagn 6 m or TAB | 31 (48) | 21 (78) | NR | TA, occipital | Wall thickening+contrast enhancement score (0–3) | Low |
| Geiger et al 35 | 43 | 30 (70) | Suspected GCA* | ACR criteria or TAB | 28 (65) | 11 (73) | NR | TA, occipital | Wall thickening+contrast enhancement score (0–3) | High |
| Veldhoen et al 36 | 99 | 68 (69) | Suspected GCA, TAB, MRI deep TA, temporal muscle | TAB | 61 (62) | 61 (100) | NR | Deep TA, temporal muscle | Wall thickening+contrast enhancement (artery wall/temporal muscle) | High |
| Franke et al 37 | 55 | 34 (62) | Suspected GCA* | TAB | 14 (25) | 14 (100) | NR | TA, occipital | Wall thickening+contrast enhancement score (0–3) | Mod |
| Klink et al 38 | 185 | 125 (68) | Headache, TA tenderness/pulse, APR +MRI and FU available | Clinical diagn 6 m or TAB | 102 (55) | 62 (63) | NR | TA, occipital | Wall thickening+contrast enhancement score (0–3) | High |
| Siemonsen et al 39 | 25 | 21 (84) | Suspected GCA | ACR criteria or TAB | 20 (80) | 9 (90) | NR | TA, occipital, intracranial | TA, occipital [wall thickening+contrast enhancement, score (0–3)] intracranial (enhancement) | Mod |
| Rhéaume et al 40 | 171 | 126 (74) | Suspected GCA+TAB | ACR criteria (retrospectively confirmed) or TAB or clinical diagn FU (NR) | 137 (80) | 31 (23) | NR | TA, occipital | Wall thickening+contrast enhancement score (0–3) | Mod |
| TAK | ||||||||||
| Yamada et al 55 | 30 | 27 (90) | Suspected TAK | Conventional angiography | 20 (67) | NA | Aorta, brachiocephalic trunk, subclavian, carotid, vertebral | Luminal changes (stenosis, occlusion, dilatation, aneurysms) | Low | |
↵*Suspected GCA according to the ACR criteria, no further details described.
ACR, American College of Rheumatology; APR, acute phase reactants; diagn, diagnosis; FU, follow-up; GCA, giant cell arteritis; LV, large vessel; m, months; mod, moderate; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; n, number of finally included patients in analysis; NA, not applicable; n female, number of females; n final diagn GCA, number of patients finally diagnosed with GCA; NR, not reported; n LV-GCA, number of GCA patients with large vessel involvement; n TAB+, number of positive temporal artery biopsy results in finally diagnosed GCA patients; RoB, overall appraisal of risk of bias and concerns about applicability (arbitrarily defined) (high, in the case of concern on ≥5/10 risk of bias items or concern on 3/3 applicability items out of the QUADAS-2 tool; moderate, in case of concern on 4/10 risk of bias items and/or concern on ≥1/3 applicability items out of the QUADAS-2 tool; low, in case of concern on ≤3/3 RoB and no concern about applicability); Pat, finally included number of patients in analysis; TA, temporal artery/arteries; TAB+, patients with a positive histology suggesting vasculitis.