Table 1.

Main characteristics of diagnostic studies on ultrasound in GCA

Study ID	n	n Female (%)	Inclusion criteria	Reference standard	n Final diagn GCA (%)	n TAB+ (%)	n LV-GCA	Investigated structures	Elementary lesions	RoB
Schmidt et al 17	112	NR	Suspected GCA+PMR	ACR criteria or TAB	30 (27)	21 (78)	NR	TA	halo, stenosis/occlusion, halo/stenosis/occlusion	High
LeSar et al 18	32	21 (66)	Suspected GCA	TAB	7 (22)	7 (100)	NR	TA	halo stenosis halo/stenosis	High
Nesher et al 19	69	NR	Suspected GCA	Clinical diagn 6 m or TAB	14 (20)	9 (64)	NR	TA	halo	High
Salvarani et al 20	86	55 (64)	Suspected GCA+PMR	ACR criteria or TAB	20 (23)	15 (75)	NR	TA	halo	High
Murgatroyd et al 21	26	NR	Suspected GCA	TAB	7 (27)	7 (100)	NR	TA	halo	High
Pfadenhauer and Weber22	67	51 (76)	Suspected GCA	ACR criteria or TAB	40 (60)	33 (83)	NR	TA, occipital	halo/stenosis/occlusion	High
Reinhard et al 23	83	49 (59)	NR	ACR crit or TAB	43 (52)	33 (77)	NR	TA	halo occlusion	High
Romera-Villegas et al 24	68	48 (71)	Suspected GCA	TAB	22 (32)	22 (100)	NR	TA	halo/stenosis/occlusion	Low
Karahaliou et al 25	55	30 (55)	ESR >50 mm/h, headache, jaw claudication, fever, PMR, TA tenderness, visual impairment	Clinical diagn 3 m or TAB	22 (40)	18 (82)	NR	TA	halo stenosis	Low
Pfadenhauer and Behr26	132	NR	Suspected GCA+US*	Clinical diagn (retrospectively confirmed)	132 (73)	89 (75)	NR	TA, carotid, vertebral, periorbital	halo/stenosis	Mod
Zaragozá-Garciá et al 27	18	14 (61)	Suspected GCA	TAB	5 (28)	5 (100)	NR	TA	halo halo/stenosis	High
Aschwanden et al 29	72	45 (63)	Suspected GCA suspected LV-GCA (PET+, ESR >50 mm/h, age >50 years)	ACR criteria	38 (53)	35 (95)	12	TA, carotid, vertebral, subclavian, axillary, femoral, popliteal	halo/stenosis	Mod
Habib et al 28	32	19 (59)	ESR >50 mm/h, headache, jaw claudication, fever, PMR, TA tenderness, visual impairment	Clinical diagn 3 m or TAB	16 (50)	15 (94)	NR	TA	halo	Mod
Aschwanden et al 30	80	55 (69)	Suspected GCA	ACR criteria	43 (54)	20 (53)	NR	TA	halo stenosis occlussion compression	Low
Diamantopoulos et al 31	88	54 (61)	CRP >5 mg/dL, headache, jaw claudication, fever, PMR, TA tenderness, visual impairment	Clinical diagn 6 m or TAB	46 (52)	26 (67)	17	TA, carotids, axillary	halo	Low
Aschwanden et al 32	60	40 (67)	Suspected GCA	ACR criteria	24 (40)	13 (72)	NR	TA	ompression	Low
Luqmani et al 6	381	273 (72)	Suspected GCA	Clinical diagn 6 m or TAB	257 (67)	101 (39)	Yes (n NR)	TA, axillary	halo/stenosis/occlusion	Mod

*Suspected GCA+US, only patients with suspected disease and an available ultrasound examination were included.

ACR, American College of Rheumatology; APR, acute phase reactants; CRP, C-reactive protein; diagn, diagnosis; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; GCA, giant cell arteritis; LV, large vessel; mod, moderate; m, months; n, number of finally included patients in analysis; 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; PET+, imaging signs suggestive for LV-GCA in positron emission tomography; 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 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); TA, temporal artery/arteries; TAB+, patients with a positive histology suggesting vasculitis.