Main characteristics of diagnostic studies on 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) and CT angiography (CTA) in extracranial large vessel giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK)
| Study ID | n | n Female (%) | Inclusion criteria | Reference standard | n Final diagn GCA (%) | n TAB+ (%) | n LV-GCA | Investigated structures | Elementary lesions | RoB |
| 18F-FDG PET | ||||||||||
| GCA | ||||||||||
| Blockmans et al 41 | 69 | 38 (55) | Age ≥45 years, ESR ≥40 mm/h, headache, fever, PMR, weight loss | TAB | 13 (19) | 13 (100) | NR | Aorta, carotid, subclavian, femoral, popliteal, tibial | Contrast enhancement (score (0–3)/vascular bed) | Mod |
| Lariviere et al 42 | 24 | 16 (67) | Suspected GCA+TAB | Clinical diagn 6 m | 15 (63) | 6 (40) | NR | Aorta, supra-aortic branches, iliac, femoral | Contrast enhancement (SUVmax vascular bed/SUVmean blood) | Low |
| CTA | ||||||||||
| GCA | ||||||||||
| Lariviere et al 42 | 24 | 16 (67) | Suspected GCA+TAB | Clinical diagn 6 m | 15 (63) | 6 (40) | NR | Aorta, supra-aortic branches | Wall thickening score (0–3) | Low |
| TAK | ||||||||||
| Yamada et al 56 | 25 | NR | Suspected TAK | CA | 20 (80) | NA | Aorta, brachiocephalic trunk, subclavian, carotid, pulmonary trunk | Luminal changes wall thickening (>1 mm)+luminal changes | Low | |
CA, conventional angiography; diagn, diagnosis; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; LV, large vessel; m, months; mod, moderate; 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; PMR, polymyalgia rheumatica; RoB, overall appraisal of risk of bias and concerns about applicability (arbitrarily defined) (high, in the case of concern on ≥5/10 RoB items or concern on 3/3 applicability items out of the QUADAS-2 tool; moderate, in case of concern on 4/10 RoB items and/or concern on ≥1/3 applicability items out of the QUADAS-2 tool, low, in case of concern on ≤3/3 risk of bias items and no concern about applicability); Sens, sensitivity; Spec, specificity; SUV, standardised uptake value; TAB+, patients with a positive histology suggesting vasculitis.