Juvenile temporal arteritis. Biopsy study of four cases
J. T. Lie, L. P. Gordon and J. L. Titus
Two young adults (aged 21 and 22 years) and two children (aged 7 and 8
years) complained of an unsightly, soft, painless unilateral nodule in the
temporal region, ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 cm in diameter, clinically
diagnosed as lipoma, sebaceous cyst, or dermoid cyst. In each instance, the
patient had no evidence of systemic disease or history of trauma, and the
nodule was excised for cosmetic reasons. Histologic examination of the
lesions showed non-giant-cell granulomatous inflammation of the temporal
arteries with intimal proliferation and microaneurysmal disruption of the
media. Whether the lesions represent a juvenile form of temporal arteritis,
an unusual form of localized polyarteritis nodosa, or Kimura disease
(subcutaneous angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia) remains
conjectural.
